Cooking Like Connor
by Cehsja
Summary: Not everyone appreciates the culinary arts like Connor does, but when Jess has to learn to cook fast, Connor finds himself with a new student. A Jecker & Conby story.
1. The Offer

**Another story from a year and a half ago, before FF allowed page breaks lol. Editing to make a few changes and reposting. So like Wooing Abby Maitland, some of you have already read this one. Hope you enjoy it again.**

Connor groaned in frustration as he saw the dinner table set with Chinese food… again.

He, Jess, and Abby were supposed to take turns preparing dinner, but Connor was the only one that ever actually cooked. Connor enjoyed cooking. The fact came as a surprise to most people, but it was something that Abby had discovered early on and used to her advantage. He began every morning with a wonderfully cooked breakfast a la Temple and when Abby had learned this, she'd demanded that he cook for her every weekend as well. During their year in the cretaceous, Connor had made all the meals and joked about writing his own cookbook one day, except he was half-serious about it. The only thing that stopped him was the fact that he never could be bothered to actually write down his recipes. Well, that and the teasing that was sure to ensure. Still, he liked the thought. Cooking Like Connor. That's what he'd call it. At first he thought he'd name it Cooking for the Cretaceous, but who would ever use that? Besides, he had too many recipes in his mind that required modern day ingredients… stuff you just didn't find back in Dino Land. Inventing recipes, he'd discovered, wasn't much different than inventing anything else after all, and the results were decidedly more tasty.

So, naturally he was frustrated when Jess and Abby ordered take-out every time their turns came around. He wished that he could just have the dinner preparation chore, but they both refused to trade him because that'd mean they had to clean up and Connor had to admit, he might be good at inventing new dishes, but he was probably the messiest cook in town. Still, he wished he could share his love of the art with his friend and girlfriend, but neither of the girls seemed the slightest bit interested in learning. To make matters worse, they ordered the same thing _every. single. time. _Today was Chinese which meant that Jess had gotten dinner. Every third day, on Abby's turn, they had Sushi. Seriously, they were making him insane.

Connor sighed, at least tomorrow it was his turn, and he was already making plans for the gourmet meal now. He'd been grocery shopping that afternoon. The recipe of course was another original, but he was sure the girls would love it.

He sat down and joined them both for the Chinese before they all headed to bed.

* * *

><p>Jess hesitated, face flushed, as she entered the ARC staff room the next day. She had just been planning on grabbing a quick cup of extra frothy coffee to take back to the ADD with her, but now she noticed that Becker was sitting alone at the small table and it didn't take a genius to figure out that something was wrong. His shoulders were slouched and he was beating up on a piece of pizza.<p>

Jess wondered if she should intrude into his personal dilemma by asking him what was wrong. She w_anted_ to intrude, she really did, but usually any encounter with Becker left her rambling and embarrassed. The problem was that whenever she became flustered (which was any time Becker was in close proximity) she rambled and said something really embarrassing and instead of teasing her about it like every other normal human would do, Becker just stared at her quietly with an amused expression on his face and eyebrows raised and she'd ramble on further and further as she got more and more humiliated and he never stopped her.

In fact, he'd stopped beating up his slice of pizza and was making that expression right now. Crap, so he'd noticed her just standing there staring. Now she had to talk.

"Did you want something, Jess?" Becker asked when he saw that she'd finally noticed him watching her, "Or were you just planning on daydreaming all afternoon."

"I, uh, just wanted some coffee you know, to keep me awake. I'm just really tired today so I need it. I couldn't seem to sleep last night, bad dreams, you know, about the team and the anomalies, it gets a bit much at times. I mean, not that I was dreaming about you or anything, well I mean, I was, because the whole team was there, but…"

"Hey guys!" Connor's voice sang out and Jess could have kissed him for interrupting her. In fact, she did. Both Connor and Becker looked on in surprise as she flung her arms around Connor's neck and pecked his cheek.

"Thanks Connor!"

Connor stared, puzzled, "Uh, you're welcome. What'd I do?"

"You stopped her smack dab in the middle of a speech about how she's been dreaming about me," Becker said with an amused grin, finally speaking.

Connor gave Jess a look of sympathy, knowing how she could be when it came to Becker, and then he grabbed a cup of coffee himself and left them. The more alone time the two of them had, the better, he thought. He was sure it was what Abby would tell him to do.

And once again, Jess was left with a staring Becker. Well, it was his turn to talk. She took a deep breath and then sat across from him and asked, "What's wrong?" There, that came out okay. Good job, she congratulated herself.

Becker shrugged, "Nothing, what makes you think there's something wrong?"

Jess bit her tongue and pointed to the pizza, if you could still call it that, on his plate. Becker glanced down and noticed that the pizza was now more of a ball of dough and sauce. The slice had been torn to shreds and then rolled up all together.

"Oh, that."

"Yes, _that_. What's wrong?"

"Nothing big, just didn't feel like pizza."

"And so you did _that _to it."

"Truth is, Jessica, I didn't feel like anything to eat. I'm hungry, but I can't think of any proper takeout that I haven't had a billion times over. Being a soldier doesn't leave much time for cooking you know, really I have no idea how to."

Jess stared at him in surprise; she didn't think Becker had ever revealed so much about himself to her, ever.

He caught the look and realised what she was thinking. He hadn't really meant to tell her that he couldn't cook, he preferred not to talk about his personal life, but sometimes it was too easy with Jess. It was hard not to say something when the other person was really truly interested like she was. He smiled at her, "And don't you dare tell that to anyone."

Jess' face lit up. It was a secret then; Becker had a secret and he was entrusting it to her. Well this day just got way better. "I won't, I won't!" she promised solemnly. "You can trust me you know, with anything, I can keep a secret, really I can. Not that I'm saying you should start telling me your secrets or anything, just that, you know, if you wanted to, you could." _Shut up, Jess!_

Becker just smiled at her though, "Thanks, Jess." He watched her for a moment. She looked so happy to have learned something new about him. He did enjoy seeing her happy. He couldn't resist continuing. "Truth is, Jessica," he started again, "Living on my own and all that, I haven't had a decent home-cooked meal in three years. Before that I used to go to my family's for Christmas and Thanksgiving and they'd make me one, but then, well, you know, I joined the ARC team and things changed. They live too far away and I didn't want to leave the area in case of an anomaly."

"We have other staff too you know," Jess pointed out.

"Yeah, but none of them want to be on call Christmas and Thanksgiving. Anyway, it's hard being with family and not being able to tell them what I do. They are ridiculously nosy at times."

"So you don't see your family at all?" Jess asked.

Becker hesitated, okay this was way more than he'd wanted to tell her, but it did feel good to talk. Anyway, it was Jess and she amused him. He was having fun watching her expression as she tried to appear sympathetic at the same time as she was nearly bursting with joy that he was talking to her about his private life. He kept going, "No, not anymore. It's okay though. My dad was in the military too, never saw him much as a child and my mum, well, I used to fight with her a lot growing up. I know it sounds terrible, but I miss the food more than the company."

"I'll cook you dinner!" Jess blurted out suddenly without quite meaning to. She blushed, "I mean, if you want me to. I don't have to stay or anything if you don't want to eat with me, I can just, you know, come cook the meal and leave or something."

Becker raised his eyebrows, amused again, "You're offering to be my personal chef? Don't you have enough on your plate already? What's in it for you?"

Jess shrugged, "Nothing, I promise, I just, you know, feel bad that you've gone so long without a proper meal. It's not healthy you know, just to have takeout all the time."

Becker grinned, her cheeks were so red and he thought it absolutely adorable. He couldn't help but to want more. He stood up and came a bit closer to her, "Thanks Jess, I'd like that. Does Saturday work for you?" Then he quickly kissed her cheek and watched as Jess' jaw dropped in surprise.

"You're welcome." She said, nodding, but even those words were hard to get out through her sudden speechlessness.

Becker turned and headed to the door, "I gotta go do some security stuff, but don't forget Jess, what I told you, it's just between us."

"I promise, really I do."

"Good."

He walked out of the room but poked his head back a second later, "Oh, and Jess?"

"Yeah?"

"I'd be more than happy if you actually stayed for the supper too." He said before leaving.


	2. Kitchen Buddies

Jess groaned as she realised exactly what it was that she had just offered. She couldn't cook! What had she been thinking? Still, how hard could it be? Connor cooked all the time and didn't seem to have any trouble with it. Connor! That was perfect; it was his turn to cook tonight. She'd just watch what he did and then repeat it at Becker's on Saturday. And with that thought, the grin that she hadn't been able to wipe off her face all day had returned.

Becker had invited her to dinner! Sorta. _Chill, Jess, _she told herself. _It's not a date, he was just being polite because it was the right thing to do after you offered to cook for him. _It was no use though, the grin was still there. Besides, he had also told her a bunch of secret stuff about his private life and that had made her feel extra special.

She was just finishing up at the ADD when Becker showed up at her side again, leaning on the desk while he watched her. She blushed like she always did when he came to tell her that he was done for the day and turned to him. "You off now?" she asked in a voice that she hoped sounded casual.

"Yeah, look Jess, I was just gonna say, if you're still serious about coming and cooking for me on Saturday…"

"I am!" she said quickly.

"Well, then, the least I can do is pick up the groceries ahead of time. Can you write me a list?"

"Uh, well, the thing is I haven't actually thought about what I'll make yet. Can I let you know tomorrow? I mean, I've been a bit busy here, it's not like that dinner is the only thing I've been thinking of. I mean I have been thinking of it, I didn't forget or anything, but I wasn't planning anything yet and…" _Shut up, Jess, _she reminded herself. He was making that expression with his eyebrows again.

Becker shrugged, "Yes, of course. See you tomorrow then, Jess."

"See ya," she replied with a grin and did her best not to watch him until he had left the room.

* * *

><p>Connor was just pulling some food out of the fridge when Jess got home from work. To his surprise, she grabbed a piece of paper and a pencil and hopped up onto the bar stool at the counter across from him.<p>

"Just some last minute paperwork," she told him, "Boring stuff really, just ignore me."

Connor shrugged and went back to work. He'd never actually seen Jess fill out her paperwork on blank loose leaf with a pencil before, but before he could ask, Abby waltzed into the room with a grin.

"You'll never believe who just called!" she said sang out happily.

"Who?" Connor and Jess asked in unison.

"Jenny! She said Michael's taking her on a trip to Italy and she needs some new clothes and wanted to know if I'd meet her for a girly shopping trip along with manicures after!"

"Wow," Connor said. "Haven't seen her since the wedding? How's she doing?"

"Well, she's somewhat newly married and heading on holiday to Italy, so I'd say she's doing fantastic!"

Jess giggled and Abby turned to her, "Wanna come?"

"Uh, now?"

"Yes now."

"I'll pass."

Abby looked at her, puzzled, "But Jess, you _have_ to. This is _Jenny _we're talking about. How often do we get to see her?"

"Abby, I know she's your friend and everything, and of course I've read her file so I do feel like I know her, but I've never actually met her. I mean, I'd love to and all, but I'm really, really busy right now."

"Yeah, you look it." Abby answered sarcastically.

Jess held up her piece of paper, being careful to hide the actual contents of it from her friend still and said simply, "Paperwork."

Abby shrugged then, "Well, alright. Maybe some other time then."

"Definitely," Jess agreed. She felt a bit bad and it was a shame as she really did want to meet Jenny. She'd watched the girl's wedding over a laptop webcam from the ARC, but that was it. However, this was more important. She couldn't miss out on what Connor was doing or she'd make a fool out of herself on Saturday, and that was something she'd done more than enough times in front of Becker already.

Abby left and Jess turned back, only to notice that Connor had been working the entire time they'd been chatting with Abby. Great, she was sure she'd missed something. She quickly wrote down what she could, but this was proving quite difficult. She grabbed her mobile and took a quick picture of what the food was looking like so far before shoving it back into her purse.

Connor was mixing up some ingredients into a bowl when suddenly he saw a bright light flash around him. He turned to Jess who was buy writing still, "What was that?"

"What was what?"

"That light."

Jess shrugged, "Didn't see it, sorry."

Connor sighed and went back to his work, but when it happened a second time he turned and stared at Jess accusingly, "Why? Why did you just take a picture of me?"

"I didn't," she spoke honestly.

Connor wasn't buying it though. He stopped what he was doing and came around the counter quickly and tried to grab her mobile from her. Jess held it out of his reach, but he simply grabbed her waist and tickled her and she let her guard down as she shrieked and giggled. Connor let go of her and triumphantly held up the phone.

Jess sighed; she hadn't really wanted him to know what she was doing. She didn't need him asking questions about why she so suddenly needed to learn to cook. Then again, maybe it'd be better. Maybe he could help her out. So far her list was not turning out so well.

Connor raised his eyebrows when he saw the photos of the food. "Jess, what's this about?"

She didn't answer, still debating with herself what to tell him, but Connor noticed her hesitation and grabbed the paper in her hand, reading off of it, "Mix the red powder with the tan powder and two… wait three… types of green leafy powders and some lemon juice. See picture. Cut up a tomato. See picture."

He turned to her and waited silently for an explanation and Jess sighed, "I'm trying to learn to cook."

Connor grinned widely at her and grabbed her hand, pulling her around to the other side of the counter, "Come on then, I'll teach you! What made you decide to do this?"

Jess didn't answer as she grabbed an apron, but Connor saw her blush.

"This has something to do with Becker doesn't it?"

"Maybe," she agreed.

Connor grinned at his young friend and then reached for a bag of flour, sprinkling some teasingly into her ponytail.

"Hey!" Jess pushed him away, "What was that for?

Connor wasn't done though as he used his thumb to smear some across each of her cheeks as well, "If you're gonna cook like Connor, you gotta look the part." He informed her, "Cooking is messy!"

Jess giggled and flicked some water at him before turning serious, "Alright, but enough. I don't want to make this much mess at Becker's so teach me properly."

Connor raised his eyebrows and leaned on the counter, "Hey Jess, what's up?"

"What do you mean?"

"What's the story here? Why exactly are we doing this? You're going to be cooking at Becker's?"

Jess blushed, "I might have offered to make him dinner. It was stupid, I know, but well…"

"You were flustered and rambling," Connor finished for her.

"Yeah, something like."

"I know the feeling," Connor said sympathetically. "I used to be like that with Abby."

"Really?" Jess' face lit up.

"Sure," Connor smiled at her, "but you don't have to look so happy about it."

"Just good to know I have some hope then. After all, you got your girl."

Connor laughed, "Or she got me. Took years for us to actually get together. I'm a lot more confident now though."

"What made the difference?"

"Well, for one, she made the first move. And I guess a year in the cretaceous really matured me too. I had to be tough. Sometimes I feel like a whole different person than I was back then."

Jess groaned, "Brilliant. All I need to do is get stuck in the past for a year and wait for Becker to make a move."

Connor laughed kissed her cheek, "Nah, you'll get your man soon, Jess. Don't worry. Abby first kissed me before we were stuck in the past anyway. Blew me socks off it did."

Jess laughed and took the bowl Connor was holding out to her to stir, "So you think I'm okay then?"

"Yep. He likes you, Jess. I think he even knows he likes you, he just hasn't admitted it to himself yet."

"Hope you're right."

Connor grinned and, using his best Nick Cutter impression, replied, "Of course I'm right."

Jess didn't get the reference, but she giggled anyway and then glanced at him, serious again, "If I tell you something, do you promise not to tell anyone else?"

"Of course, Jess, you can rely on me."

"Not even Abby? I thought you told her everything."

"I tell her all my secrets, yes, but this is your secret and it's not mine to tell. I won't say a word, I promise."

"In that case, don't tell her any of this, okay, not that I'm cooking for Becker or learning from you, or anything. Please, I don't want a bunch of questions later and she'll want all the details."

"Jess, I promise, what's the secret?"

Jess' face broke out into a grin as she replied, "He kissed my cheek today! When I offered to cook for him, he kissed my cheek!"

Connor grinned back, truly happy for his friend, "That's great, Jess. I remember the first time Abby kissed my cheek. I was so thrilled!"

"Tell me that story," Jess demanded.

"Here, that's stirred enough," Connor said quickly, taking the bowl from her, "I'll tell you in a minute, but first, I want you to spread this over chicken like so." He did the first couple chicken breasts himself before handing her the brush.

Jess took it and carried on, "Okay, tell me now."

"Well, it was the second time actually, the first time didn't count because I blackmailed her into it, but that's a story for another time. The first time she did so on her own she tricked me into thinking she was in danger and when I rushed into the room to save her, she leapt out and startled me by jumping onto my back. When I admitted that I was really worried about her, she kissed my cheek and thanked me. Pretty much turned me into a puddle of Connor since I melted on the spot. I was sure that she'd just done it as a thank-you, but she told me years later that she had had fancied me at that time."

Jess' face lit up and Connor knew that she was hoping Becker's kiss meant the same thing. She finished with the chickens and then started to write down what she was doing again and Connor glanced over her shoulder at her list.

"We'll have to make some changes here, especially that first section you did on your own," he pointed out with a grin.

Jess nodded as Connor put the food in the oven and began chopping up some vegetables and potatoes. "Here," he told her, "Don't worry about it. We'll get this done and then tell you everything to write."

"Thanks, Connor."

Connor grinned at her, "No problem, maybe we can have one more lesson before Saturday on your turn to cook."

"I'd appreciate it."

Connor grinned and thought to himself that he would too. Maybe they wouldn't have to have Chinese on Friday! Suddenly he had an idea. "Jess, look, I'm gonna keep your secrets and even help you with this, but perhaps you could do the same for me?"

"What do you mean?"

"I was thinking of making a cookbook, but can't be bothered to write down my recipes. Think you could help?"

"Sure!" Jess promised him, "That'd be great for me too, because maybe if I do a good job, Becker will let me cook for him more often. It'd be a shame to have to make the same thing every time."

Connor grinned, "Kitchen Buddies?"

"Kitchen Buddies!" she agreed with a grin and they sealed it with a high five.


	3. Invitations

Abby stared at the mess in her kitchen in disbelief as she walked through the front door of their flat, followed closely by Jenny. The kitchen was always a mess after Connor cooked of course, but this was slightly ridiculous. And where was he, anyway?

She'd had a terrific time shopping with her old friend and decided to invite Jenny to dinner, knowing that Connor would love to see her too; Jenny had happily accepted. Jenny started at the mess as well and then raised her eyebrows in amazement, "Abby, I think your kitchen exploded."

"So it would seem. This is why Jess and I don't let Connor cook _every _day."

"Connor cooked dinner?"

Abby laughed at the expression on her friend's face. "Sure, Connor cooks all the time. He's actually really good at it. Unfortunately, he leaves the clean up for Jess and I."

Jenny headed to the warming rack and took a sneak peak inside, wanting to see this to believe it. A heavenly aroma filled the air as soon as she opened it and she glanced at Abby, impressed. "Wow, that actually _does_ look delicious. Man, there's a lot of food here though."

Abby stood behind Jenny and peered over her shoulder, "So there is, enough that…" her face lit up with the idea, "Jenny, you said you missed everyone, right? What if you help me tidy this up and I invite the rest of the team for dinner too? You could get the chance to see Lester, Becker, Emily and Matt again!"

Jenny grinned, "I'd love that. Well, mostly. Matt's kinda a party pooper though, isn't he?"

Abby laughed, remembering Jenny and Matt's first meeting, "He might not have made the best first impression," she agreed, "but he's a dear friend, I can't leave him out. Besides, Emily would kill me."

Jenny shook her head, "I still can't believe she's dating him," she replied as she grabbed a dish rag and started to clean.

* * *

><p>Connor sat behind Jess in a chair in her bedroom, peering over her shoulder as she typed his ideas into her laptop. They'd started with the meal they had just made, but now Connor was excitedly making up new recipes on the spot and she was helping him record them to try later.<p>

Jess' first lesson had gone really well, to her relief, and Connor had supervised as she'd made a second, and even a third, batch of the chicken, just for practice. Abby was going to go crazy when she saw how much food there was and the mess they'd left. The mess wasn't Jess' fault though, it was Connor that had started a food fight while they were waiting for the second batch of chicken to cook. Although, she supposed the second food fight that had ensued while Connor was teaching her how to make Cherry Cheese Danishes for dessert had been her fault, but surely that was besides the point. The kitchen had already been a mess by then.

They were interrupted mid-recipe by Jess' mobile vibrating on the desk beside her, indicating that she had a new text message. She picked it up and then grinned at Connor, "It's from Becker!" she exclaimed happily.

Connor smiled at her expression as Jess flipped the cover of her phone up and turned her phone away from Connor slightly so that he couldn't read the contents of her message.

_You told Abby my secrets!_

Jess froze. What was he talking about? She'd never said a word! Connor noticed the sudden frown on her face and put a hand on her shoulder, "Jess? Is everything alright?"

Jess nodded, "I think so, one second." She quickly typed a message back saying: _I swear I didn't!_

_Then why has Abby just left a message on my phone saying there is a surprise for me if I come over for dinner?_

Jess turned to Connor in a panic, "Abby just invited Becker over for dinner!"

"Really?" Connor looked at her in surprise. "That's odd she never said anything to us. But don't worry about it, Jess. We'll say you did most of the cooking and he'll look forward to Saturday even more! There's still plenty of time to teach you a new recipe before then so you don't have to serve him the same thing twice. Besides, now that you have all these written out, it'll be easy. You're brilliant enough to follow them."

Jess nodded, relaxing at Connor's reassurance and then texted Becker back, _I have no idea what Abby meant or what she is up to, but I'll try to find out. Are you coming?_

_You sure you didn't tell?_

_Positive._

_Then I'll be there. But do find out what is going on, Jessica. I really hate surprises._

_I'll do my best, _Jess promised, shutting her phone and turning to Connor. "Abby's up to something. She told Becker there was a surprise for him."

Connor grinned and stood, pulling Jess to her feet, "Then I'd guess we'd better go investigate, yeah?"

Jess nodded, "Exactly what I was thinking."

* * *

><p>Jenny and Abby were just finishing with the clean up when Abby and Connor showed up in the kitchen.<p>

"Jenny!" they cried in unison.

Jenny grinned and turned to give Connor a hug, "Still getting into trouble?" she asked with a smile.

"Who me? Nah!"

Jenny laughed, "Connor, I _saw_ the mess you made in here; in fact, I cleaned it up."

Connor just laughed and pulled her in for one more quick hug before breaking away. "Jenny," he said, "This is Jess. Jess, Jenny."

Jenny smiled at the young girl in front of her, "So you're the one I've heard gives our Connor a run for his money when it comes to sheer brilliance. Nice to meet you."

Jess laughed and gave Jenny a hug, "Yep, that'd be me. Oh, it's so good to see you. We all miss you so much! I mean, I know you don't know me, but I've read your file, so I know you."

Jenny raised an eyebrow and Abby laughed, "Don't worry, she says that to everyone she meets. I'd think she was just trying to freak people out if she hadn't actually given Connor the keys to her flat before she knew him."

Jenny laughed but admonished the girl, "You gotta be careful, Jess."

Jess shrugged with one shoulder and smiled, without answering.

"Anyway," Abby said with a laugh to Connor and Jess, "I've invited the entire team for dinner to see Jenny, so you two might wanna get cleaned up. I'm not even going to ask what happened, but you're both a mess!"

Jess looked horrified and quickly scampered away to get changed before Becker arrived. Abby held Connor back for a moment though, and gave him a deep kiss. "Couldn't resist the cherry filling you're covered in," she said with a grin when they broke apart. "Now go get cleaned up." She swatted his backside with a dish towel as he hurried away.


	4. Arrivals

As soon as she was out of sight, Jess quickly sent Becker a text: _Someone is here to see you._

The reply came immediately_: Who?_

_It's supposed to be a surprise. If you're sure you want to know, you have to swear you'll act surprised and not tell on me for telling you._

_Alright, fine. Now tell me._

_Say it._

_I swear._

_It's Jenny!_

_Seriously? Wow, haven't seen her since she left the ARC._

_The rest of the team are invited too, but they don't know she's here yet._

_I'll keep quiet. I promise._

_Thanks. Gotta go get ready now. Bye._

Jess put down her mobile and quickly showered and dried her hair. Then she browsed her wardrobe to find something special to wear. She always dressed up at work, so she'd really have to go the extra mile now with Becker coming to her own home. Finally she settled on a pale pink flowing sundress and a delicate pearl necklace. She pulled her hair back into a ponytail, letting a couple pieces loose to frame her face. These she curled into ringlets. She smiled at her reflection and then skipped into the living room and planted herself in front of the window, watching for Becker to arrive.

"Jess?" She heard Connor's voice behind her, "Whatcha doing?"

"I'm waiting for Becker to get here!" she announced, peering even harder at the glass pane.

"Uh… I'm here."

Jess whirled around to find Becker standing beside Connor with that amused expression on his face. Jess blushed deeply, "I, er, just figured you'd be the first one here, of course I'm waiting for the others too. I mean, I don't have to sit here and wait anymore though if you guys need anything, not that I'm leaving this spot just because you're here but…"

Connor quickly intervened for her, "Good idea, Jess. Why don't you and Becker wait here and let everyone in. I'm gonna go help Abby and Jenny. Would you believe they think we need to play a game after dinner? What's with that? They are online trying to figure out what to play right now since we don't own any board games. I dunno why we can't just play Truth or Dare."

"Because last time we did that we had a hell of a time explaining how the mammoth got into our flat," Jess pointed out, but she shot Connor a grateful look for his interruption.

"Wasn't my fault," Connor mumbled.

"Didn't say it was, but it still happened."

Connor shrugged and headed back to the kitchen leaving Jess and Becker alone. Becker came and sat beside Jess on the couch and Jess couldn't help but to notice that he looked really great. For once, he wasn't wearing all black. His dress pants were still black, but he was wearing a light grey, almost silver, button down dress shirt which he'd left untucked. Jess smiled at him, "Wow, nice to see you in something other than black for a change."

Becker grinned at her, "And you look fantastic, Jess. That colour suits you well, and so do curls." He reached out and twisted one of her ringlets between his fingers and then dropped it as though his hands had been burned when he saw the surprised look on her face. He knew he was getting too close so he turned his attention to the window behind them.

The silence between them was awkward for a moment, but then Becker remembered something, "Jess?"

She looked at him eagerly, wanting to hear anything Becker had to say.

Becker continued, "I just wanted to apologize. You know, for accusing you of blabbing my secrets earlier. I shouldn't have assumed that."

Jess smiled at him, "It's fine, really. I can understand why you thought that."

Becker opened his mouth to reply, but at that moment Jenny entered the room, "Hey guys, come give us your opinion on this game…" she stopped and looked at the pair curiously. "Wow, you two are certainly dressed up. Is there something going on I don't know about?"

Abby appeared behind Jenny and grinned at her, "They're just trying to impress each other, that's all."

Becker and Jess both blushed deeply and Jenny laughed, "Ah, got it. That's cute guys."

Becker let out a noise that sounded curiously close to a growl at being called cute, but they pair was saved by the doorbell ringing. Jenny grinned and ran to answer it. Matt stood on the other side and Jenny's grin quickly faded.

"Oh, it's you."

"Jenny," Matt replied, sounding genuinely happy and surprised to see her, despite her misgivings, which he could really understand.

Jenny smiled then and let him in, "Our party, our rules. You _do_ have to have a good time here."

Matt laughed and agreed, stepping inside.

"Where's Emily?" Jenny asked.

"She had to work late and I took the car. Lester has agreed to drive her over later."

"That seems surprisingly out of character for him."

"Nah, not really. He grumbled about it for about an hour."

"Ah, gotcha."

Matt followed Jenny and Abby back into the kitchen and Becker glanced at Jess, "Should we join them?"

"Nope. We're on lookout duty, remember?" Jess replied, buying herself some more time alone with Becker.

"But they said they wanted us to look at the game."

"To approve it, but I don't really care what they choose."

Becker let her win then. To be honest, he wasn't really in a rush to leave Jess' side either. She looked really, really pretty at the moment. He should probably say something and stop staring at her, but she was blushing and getting flustered under his gaze again and it was definitely more fun this way. After a long moment of watching her stare intently at the wall across from them as if it were the most interesting thing on the planet, he decided to give her a break.

"So," he asked, "Do I get a preview of your cooking? Did you make the meal?"

Jess shrugged, "Well, Connor and I worked together on it. Connor cooks more than I do." It was the understatement of a lifetime, but still true.

"Connor cooked for us? And to think, for years I've always thought that it would be a dinosaur that kills me one day. Turns out it's gonna be dinner."

Jess laughed, "I hope it's not the dinner. Connor's a great cook. Not that I'd want a dinosaur to kill you either. I mean, I wouldn't really want you dead at all, you know."

Becker chuckled as the doorbell rang.

"That's gotta be Lester and Emily, then," Jess said, quickly standing to answer it.

Sure enough, it was them. Jess grinned and gave Emily a quick hug as she let them both in. Lester pulled her to the side, "Okay, Jess," he whispered, "I couldn't get anything out of Abby and you know I bloody well hate surprises, so you'd better tell me what's going on here."

"Surprise visitor," Jess whispered back, "Abby'd kill me if I told you who though."

"As your boss, I demand an answer."

"I don't believe I'm at work right now, but your answers right there," Jess replied, with a nod of her head in the direction of Jenny who had just walked into the room.

Lester hid a smile as he turned and stepped toward Jenny, "Well, as surprises go I suppose it's not too bad. Much better than expected actually. Nice to see you, Jenny."

"You too, James," Jenny said with a grin, shaking his hand and knowing that, despite his unattached tone, he really was rather thrilled to see her.

Emily threw her arms around Jenny next, even though she barely knew her, and gave her a huge hug. "Oh, it's so great to see you again," she said earnestly. "How's married life treating you?"

"Terrific! Michael and I are going to Italy on vacation soon."

"Oh, you'll have to tell me all about it when you get back."

"I'll do that," Jenny promised.

The group all walked together into the kitchen. As they did, Lester glanced at Jess. "You look really nice, Jessica." He whispered to her, knowing full well the reason she was dressed up.

"Thanks," she whispered back.

Jenny overheard and turned to stare incredulously at Lester, "Did I really just hear you compliment someone on their appearance?"

"Yeah, Lester's actually nice to_ her_," Emily commented with a shrug.

"And I'll have the rest of you fired if you continue to gossip about my personal affairs," Lester replied.

"Somehow, I'm not overly worried," Jenny chuckled.

They found that Connor had set the table already and was dishing out the food when they entered the kitchen. "Be seated," Abby said with a smile.

Becker quickly grabbed a chair and pulled it out, holding it for Jess who sat down with a grateful smile. He sat beside her. Lester placed himself at the head of the table and Matt sat opposite him. Emily sat between Matt and Becker and Connor sat across from Jess with Abby between himself and Jenny.

"Alright," Connor grinned, "Dig in!"


	5. Blind Art

Jess was thrilled by the fact that everyone loved her meal. She kept hoping that someone would ask who made it, since she didn't want to randomly boast about it herself, but the conversation was currently focused on what Jenny had been up to lately and Jess was fine with that too. At least Becker and Connor knew she had helped a lot with it.

They had all agreed not to talk too much about the ARC or anomalies or creatures during the meal, due to Abby's orders. Jenny said she'd moved on enough with her life enough that she was able to visit with them all and not dwell on Claudia Brown and Nick Cutter, but Abby suspected the topic might make Jenny feel a bit left out still. Jenny had told her that she'd been thinking about them all since her wedding when she'd realised how much she'd missed the team. She promised that she'd keep in contact with them more once she was back from Italy.

Finally, whilst helping himself to thirds, Matt said, "This is a terrific meal. You're a great cook, Abby."

"I didn't cook it; Connor did."

Emily looked over to Connor. "Thanks," she smiled at him, "It is truly delicious."

Matt and Lester, however, had dropped their forks and were staring at the food as though it would attack them.

"Wonderful," Lester spoke sarcastically, "My original team is trying to poison me."

Abby laughed, "Connor always cooks; I can't be bothered. He's good at it, yeah?"

Connor grinned, "Glad you guys like it, but I can't take all the credit; Jess made most of it."

This time it was Abby's turn to look surprised, though she didn't say anything. Lester reached over and helped himself to seconds. "Oh, okay, that explains it then. It really is good, Jess."

Jess blushed and tried not to laugh at the irony. She thought she should say something about how Connor had shown her what to do, but she couldn't with Becker sitting at her side. Connor gave her a subtle nod and smile across the table, letting her know that it was fine.

Jess stood then, "Glad you're all enjoying it, but save some room for dessert. We've made Cherry Cheese Danishes for you guys as well." She disappeared for a moment and returned, placing the tray of Danishes on the table.

Everyone eagerly grabbed one, though Becker groaned as he did. "You could've mentioned these _before _I had four helpings of your meal, Jessica. If I stuff any more food into myself, I think I'll explode." Despite his comments, he bit deep into the Danish and smiled at her, "Jess, you are truly brilliant."

Jess felt her face turn red again, "Connor helped though. I mean, I did most the work, but Connor was a huge help and they were his idea. But you don't have to eat it now if you're not hungry. I wouldn't really want you to explode. I mean, not just me, I'm sure the rest of the team wouldn't either. Not that you really would explode, but I wouldn't want you to have a stomach ache on my account either…"

He was giving her that look again and, for that matter, so was Jenny. It was Lester who finally interrupted her this time, "When you say _"the rest of the team," _surely you haven't included me."

Abby laughed, "Oh, Lester. We know you care about Becker too. Jess was right, none of us would want him to explode."

Lester grumbled something about staff who pretended to be mind readers and to his annoyance the entire group laughed.

When they had calmed down, Emily turned to each Connor and Jess and smiled at them in turn. "These are simply divine, you guys. They remind me of the food we'd have at a Victorian Tea."

"Tea!" Connor exclaimed suddenly, standing, "I should have offered you all tea. Let me put the kettle on."

While Connor made the tea, Abby cleared away all the dishes and Jenny helped her. Jess turned to Emily, "Do you miss the Victorian era?"

Emily smiled, looking at Matt beside her, "No. The company is much better here, but I do miss little dainties like these."

Jess nodded, understandingly, but was interrupted by Abby before she could respond.

"Alright, everyone! Connor's just pouring the tea and while we drink it, we're all going to play a game."

"And that's my cue to leave," said Lester, standing.

Abby was on him, pushing him back down into his chair by his shoulders, "Oh no you don't. My house, my rules. We need an even number of people to play this game."

Jess raised an eyebrow, "Technically, it's my flat, Abby. But it's fine, I rule that he plays too."

"I've been taken hostage by a group of mindless rabble, fantastic," Lester complained.

"Technically," Matt spoke up, "You'd still have even teams if neither myself_ nor_ Lester played."

Lester cast him a grateful look, but Emily wasn't having any of it, "You're _both_ going to play. Now shut up so we can hear the rules."

"First," Abby began, "let's choose partners."

"I'm with Jess!" Lester and Becker both spoke quickly and in unison before glaring at each other.

Jess couldn't help but to blush again and smile. Jenny raised her eyebrows, "Wow, Jess…Not sure how you won both these two over."

Jess grinned at Jenny, "I'm brilliant; that's how." She glanced at Abby, "I'd like to hear the rules of the game before I choose between them. I'll pick my partner based on their specific abilities and talents and who I think is more likely to help me win."

"Is that not cheating?" Matt asked.

Connor entered the room and handed everyone their tea: Black for Becker, Lester and Emily, cream only for himself and Jenny, sugar only for Abby, and both cream and sugar for Jess and Matt. He didn't even have to ask.

"Whatever the rules are," Connor smiled, "I'm Abby's partner."

"And I'm with Matt," Emily said.

"So…_no one_ wants to pair with me, then?" Jenny asked.

"Oh gosh, I'm so sorry, Jenny! You're the guest of honour; we should've all picked you!" Jess exclaimed.

"It's okay," Jenny laughed, "I was just teasing you."

"Still, it wasn't right. I'll be your partner," Jess promised.

Becker and Lester frowned at each other, knowing what that meant. "You _can't _be serious," Lester complained.

Abby laughed, "She is. Becker, you're with Lester. Okay, now, here are the rules: One person will be blindfolded and given a piece of paper and a pen. Their partner has to tell them how to draw a picture of an object, but they can't name the object. They can only use directions such as "draw a circle, now move the pen an inch left and draw a small rectangle," etc. The object will be chosen by the three teams whose turn it isn't and whispered to the instructor. Then, the person who is blindfolded has to take off the blindfold and guess what they drew! If they get it, the team whose turn it is gets three points. If they don't, all the other teams get one point. We go until every person has had a turn to draw and the youngest member of each team draws first. Got it?"

Everyone nodded. Abby chose a number in her head and got Connor and all the others to pick and see who got the closest to decide who would go first. Emily won and looked at Abby, "Okay, what do I blindfold Matt with?"

Matt looked at her, "You mean, what do I blindfold you with. I'm older."

"How is that possible? I was born hundreds of years before you."

Matt hesitated, "Yeah, but I've spent more days alive then you."

"I was in my twenties and you weren't even born yet. That makes me older."

"Not necessarily!"

"I'm sure it does."

_"Abby_?" The both said in unison, looking to her for an answer.

Abby stared at them, looking just as puzzled. "Okay, maybe youngest goes first won't work this time. Umm… let's go with alphabetical order instead."

Matt grinned at Emily, "Ha, you get to be blindfolded first."

Emily looked at Abby, "You meant by last name, right? Anderson is before Merchant. I get to blindfold Matt first."

Connor stepped in, "_You guys_! This is a _game, _everyone is going to have a turn. _Someone please_ just blindfold someone!"

Emily walked up to Connor and stared at him, hands on her hips, "We can't. We _still _don't have a blindfold."

Abby sighed and left the room, returning a moment later with a black sleeping mask that would work perfectly. She handed it to Matt. "First names. Matt blindfold your partner."

Emily scowled and Matt reminded her that it was _she_ that had insisted on them both playing.

At that, Emily cheered up, "Okay, you win. You're right. I just wanted to win this argument that's all, but I guess we're supposed to be a team. Go ahead, blindfold me."

Matt did so and then put the pen in her hand and placed her hand gently on the edge paper so that she could feel where it was. Then he placed her hand at the centre of the paper and looked at the others.

"Uh, guys, what am I telling her to draw?"

The rest of the team quickly whispered together and then Abby whispered something into Matt's ear and he grinned and started giving Emily instructions. They worked quite well together. Matt's instructions were very detailed and Emily was an artist. When she finally pulled the blindfold off, she easily guessed that Matt had had her draw a barn and fence around it.

"Three points for Matt & Emily," Abby announced.

"Us next!" Connor grinned, "Come here, Abby."

She stepped close to him and let him blindfold her and set her up at the paper while the others whispered together. Jess then whispered to Connor what this object was and he started to bark orders to Abby. Abby's picture was not nearly as good as Emily's had been. She didn't have the patience to wait on some of his instructions and started drawing what she_ thought_ he would say next, resulting in a lot of half lines covering the actual picture. She frowned when she looked at it, but then her face lit up. "I don't care how bad my drawing is, I'd recognize that shape anywhere. It's Rex!"

Connor grinned and gave her a high five. Then Jess blindfolded Jenny. They actually did quite well picture-wise, but Jenny turned out to be not very good at guessing games. "It's a bunch of triangles," she concluded. Jess groaned, "It's the pyramids in Egypt!"

"Oh."

Becker grinned, "Alright, one point for Lester and I, Matt & Emily and Connor and Abby are up to four and _you guys_ have nothing!"

Jess glared at him, "Still early, _Hilary. _I bet that, regardless of who wins this entire game, Jenny and I will come out with more points than you and Lester."

Becker raised his eyebrows, "I'll take you up on that bet. Shall we make it interesting?"

"What'd you have in mind?"

Becker glanced at the others and then whispered into Jess' ear, not wanting them to hear in case she turned him down, "Winner gets to choose the movie on Saturday."

"What movie?" she whispered back.

"The one we watch after you make me dinner."

Jess blushed and grinned and stuck out her hand to shake his, "Deal."

The others were all watching curiously. "What the hell was that about?" Lester asked, before taking back his question, "Never mind. I don't think I want to know."

"Good," Becker laughed, "Because we're not telling you."

"Will you tell us one thing?" Jenny asked with a grin on her face.

Becker looked at her, questioningly.

"Did, uh, I hear right? Your name is _Hilary?_"

Becker glared at Jess and ignored Jenny. Jess would've been upset by his glare but she was too giddy to care. He'd asked her to stay longer and watch a movie with him. That was almost like a date, right? This night was going way too well. She suddenly felt a hand on the small of her back and glanced up to find Connor at her side, staring at her questioningly. "I'll tell you later," she mouthed to him, knowing he wanted to know what Becker's bet had been. He nodded and moved away quickly.

"Alright," Lester grumbled, "I guess it's our turn."

"Right," Becker said, "And you _better _give me some good instructions, we have to win this now." He snatched up the blindfold and put it on himself. Abby whispered Lester's instructions into his ear and he started barking out commands in the same tone he used at work. When Becker took the blindfold off, he immediately grinned at his picture, "So easy! It's a tank! Four points for us and… what's that? Zero for Jenny and Jess?"

Jess frowned, "That wasn't fair. Becker's always thinking about tanks, of course he got it."

Becker laughed, "You guys picked the picture!"

Right. Jess had no response for that, so she shut up. Emily blindfolded Matt next and Matt's art skills turned out to be terrible. Emily groaned as he drew circles when she said ovals and rectangles when she said squares and made his one inch long lines six inches long. He took of the blindfold and stared, "It's, uh, a piece of art by Picasso!" he guessed jokingly, knowing he'd never really figure it out.

"It was a playground," Emily said.

"Five points!" Becker exclaimed.

"Same for us," Abby grinned at Connor.

Jenny smiled at Jess, "And we're on the board with one."

Next Abby blindfolded Connor. The picture was about average, but Connor couldn't guess it. "A mushroom?" he finally said after a long pause.

Abby screwed her face up, "No, it was meant to be a parachute."

"Oh. Sorry, Abs."

"Alright," Lester said, "So Becker and I are at six points, Abby and Connor are at five, Matt and Emily have five now as well and Jenny and Jess are at two and it's their turn."

"We've got to get this," Jess whispered to Jenny. Jenny nodded and blindfolded her friend. Jess was pretty good at art and it went well. "It's a rose bush!" she exclaimed and Jenny nodded.

"Ha!" Jess grinned, staring at Becker, "Five points for us now too!"

Becker shrugged, "Lester and I have six and it's our turn."

Lester put the blindfold on while they conferred and then Jenny whispered to Becker what he had to make Lester draw.

It was a hard one, but Becker gave him the best instructions he could. Lester was a horrible artist, but Becker's instructions were so detailed that it really made up for it. Lester stared at the paper for a bit and then suddenly smiled, "It's Abby's mammoth!"

_"YES!" _shouted Becker, _"We win!"_

He grinned at Jess, "Take that, Jessica."

Jessica shrugged and tried to look offended but, to be honest, she was still too excited that she was going to be watching a movie with Becker to care what it was. Anyway, now that she thought about it, it was probably better this way. Now she wouldn't have to be all flustered while she tried to pick a good film that he would like. She stretched out her hand to shake his again, "Congratulations," she told him sincerely.

"And with that," Lester announced, "I really need to go home. The rest of you should too, who knows when we'll get another alert."

They all nodded and said their goodbyes at the door before Lester, Jenny, Matt, Emily and Becker left the flat and then Jess said goodnight to Connor and Abby and headed to her room.


	6. Sleep Patterns

Jess lay in bed awake for a long time, giddy about the entire evening. Becker had told her she looked nice and invited her to stay for a movie on Saturday, just the two of them. Plus, he'd dressed up and hadn't at all tried to deny it was to impress her and, even though she'd denied him, he'd wanted to be on her team for the game. Oh, _and_ he'd said he liked her hair with ringlets. Jess wondered silently if it would be too obvious if she wore all her hair in ringlets for work the next day.

* * *

><p>Becker lay in bed awake for a long time with a grin on his face and unable to get Jess out of his mind. He didn't really like to get too attached to people, but it was too late for that now. He should have known better than to confide in <em>her,<em> of all people, because letting himself trust her was truly the breaking point for him. Of course, it'd probably been a mistake to invite her to dinner and a movie too but, to be honest, he was looking far too forward to it to care. He grinned wider as he remembered the way she'd been staring out the window waiting for him to arrive.

At first he'd habitually told himself not to get too close, and he'd pulled away when he'd found himself playing with her ringlets, but hearing Abby say that they were trying to impress each other and not hearing Jess protest had put a bit of perspective on things. Abby was right, of course. Becker _had_ been trying to impress Jess, though he hadn't admitted it to himself before then. And who was Becker to try and impress her and push her away at the same time? Surely that could only hurt her, right? It was his job to protect her, not to hurt her, so he had to pick one or the other and stick with it. Strong soldier that he was, he knew his weaknesses and Jess was one of them. He'd never really be able to push her away now, so the logical thing to do would be to try and win her over once and for all. He fell asleep with a smile at the thought.

* * *

><p>Jess heard a soft knock on her bedroom door and she glanced at the clock: 2:08am. She sat up and whisper-yelled, "Come in."<p>

Connor came in and shut the door quietly behind himself so as to not wake up Abby in the next room. He lay down on the edge of Jess' bed, hands behind his head, and looked at the ceiling. "So, Kiddo, I had a feeling you'd still be up. Let's chat. What was the bet Becker won?"

Jess grinned, "He said winner gets to pick the movie we watch after dinner on Saturday. He wants me to stay for a movie, Con!"

Connor laughed, "See, I told you he likes you."

"I hope so. Con, do you really think I'll be okay cooking on my own?"

"Of course, Jess. You're brilliant, remember? Stop fretting."

"Thanks."

Connor kissed her cheek and then said, "I better get back to bed before I fall asleep here. Have a good night, Jess."

Jess nodded and suddenly found that she was quite tired too. She let out a yawn, "Oooohaaacoaaaagnihaa."

"What?"

Jess giggled, "I said, "Okay, Connor, good night.""

The door opened suddenly and Abby appeared rubbing her eyes and staring at them sleepily, "What's going on?"

Connor stood up and went to her, "Nothing, Abs. Just giving Jess a little pep talk. Didn't mean to wake you, sorry."

Abby smiled and reached for his hand, "It's fine, Con, you didn't. I just woke up for a glass of water and wondered where you'd got to. Are you coming to bed?"

Connor nodded and they left the room, shutting the door quietly so as not to wake Jess who was already asleep.

* * *

><p>Becker arrived early to work the next day. He knew that only Jess would beat him there and he wanted to give her the chocolate he'd brought before anyone else showed up.<p>

He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw her and grinned. She was even more dressed up than usual. She wore a dark green dress that had a bit of shine to it. It had a flared skirt and short rounded sleeves. She had it tied at the waist with a gold ribbon and she was wearing matching gold heels and her hair was partially tied back in a half-ponytail with a gold ribbon. He knew the look had to be for him, because she'd done all her hair up in ringlets again.

He snuck up behind her and grabbed one of the ringlets, giving it a gentle tug and watching it spring back into place when he let go. Jess whirled around in surprise, "Becker!"

He smiled at her, "What's the occasion?"

"What?"

Becker knew it was for him, but he wanted to see her blush so he reached out to make another ringlet bounce. "You've got curls again, must have taken a long time. Why'd you bother?"

Sure enough, Jess turned pink as she fumbled for what to say. "I, well, you know, I like to look nice and you said the ringlets looked nice, not that I did them for you, but I feel better about myself if I make the effort to look nice and it gave me the idea to curl my hair because you said you liked it, so it's kind of because of you I guess but…"

"But not for my benefit," Becker interrupted. He liked to hear her ramble, but the others would show up soon and he didn't really believe her anyway.

Jess blushed even deeper, "Well, I mean, I liked that you liked how I looked of course. I mean, I'd like it if anyone said they liked it and well, I hoped you would still, but you don't have to like the curls this way."

"Jessica! Of course I do. You're beautiful, as always."

"Oh," Jess stared, at a loss for words finally.

Becker pulled the box of chocolates out from behind his back then and presented them to her. "Here, these chocolates were pretty much screaming your name, so I had to buy them for you."

Jess stared at the bright yellow box shaped like a flower with a smiley face. "You brought me chocolate? I mean, of course you did since they are right here in front of me but… thank-you."

Becker grinned and gave her a wink, tugging one more time at her ringlets before walking away. Jess watched until he was gone and then lifted the lid of the box. Inside were a couple dozen small chocolates of assorted shapes and sizes and a small picture guide to show what kinds were which. Three of chocolates were already missing and there was a note in Becker's writing: _Jess, I ate the orange ones so you didn't get them by accident. ~ Becker._

Jess grinned and popped a praline filled chocolate into her mouth before closing the lid and hiding the box before the others arrived.

* * *

><p>Abby grinned when she arrived at work. Connor had gone right to the lab and Becker was alone in the staff room and she suddenly had an idea. She let out a huge, obvious yawn as she entered and Becker glanced at her.<p>

"Tired still, Abs?"

"Yeah, woke up in the middle of the night and couldn't find Connor." She replied casually, leading Becker to the question that was sure to make her soldier friend jealous and hopefully get him to finally ask Jess out.

Becker played right into her hands, "Where was he?"

Abby gave a little laugh, "In Jess' bed, of all places."

Becker jumped to his feet, "What! With Jess?"

"Yeah, they were whispering about something or other and I finally heard her giggle and figured out where he was."

Becker frowned. He knew that nothing was going on between the pair; Abby would've killed Connor if she was at all worried about it. However, it still bothered him. It suddenly occurred to him that Connor got to see Jess in her, probably adorable, pyjamas. Connor probably saw Jess with messy hair and no make up and he probably knew what she liked for breakfast and how long she took in the shower and what kinds of music she enjoyed. Connor probably ate dinner with her everyday.

"Becker, is something wrong?" Abby asked, knowing full well there was.

Becker slowly turned to her, "Better say your goodbyes, Abby. I'm gonna go kill your boyfriend."

Abby just laughed as Becker stormed out of the room.

* * *

><p>Connor was working in his lab when Becker appeared with an EMD, looking furious. "<em>Temple!<em> We need to talk!"

"Cheers, Mate!"

"Not this time. Abby just told me an interesting little anecdote. It was something about finding you in Jess' bed last night. Ring a bell?"

Connor gulped, "Now why would Abby say that? Does she not know you have a lot of guns? I was sure she still loved me."

"It is true?"

"Just a quick chat, Becker. Jess is like a little sister to me."

Becker hesitated, the word 'sister' calming him down considerably. "What colour are her pyjamas?" he asked. He half wanted to know so he could picture her in them, and half wanted to find out if Connor had been looking.

Connor frowned, "I dunno, it was dark and she was under the covers. Usually though, she wears her Christmas ones on Wednesdays, regardless of the time of year. Why?"

Becker frowned, "See, that's not right, that you get to know those little random things about her and I don't."

Connor grinned, "So you admit you like her then?"

"I admit to nothing. I just think it's important to know everyone's little habits, never know what could save a life."

"Ah, I see," Connor answered pensively, "And you're afraid you don't know enough about Jess yet to protect her."

"Exactly." Becker agreed, grateful that Connor was going to let him save face.

"So maybe you should spend more time with her outside of work."

"Good idea."

"She told me about your bet by the way. You might want to know this little random thing about her: her favourite movie is A Walk to Remember. However, she has also been dying to see Timeline and has never had the chance yet."

"I'll keep that in mind."

"Becker?"

"Yeah?"

"Just in case I'm ever in danger and you need to save my life, I sleep shirtless with black pyjama bottoms." Connor grinned at Becker and then quickly ducked out of the room as Becker reached for the EMD.


	7. Boing

By the time noon had rolled around, Jess had decided she would wear her hair in ringlets every day from then on. Becker had brought his daily report to Jess and she'd noticed that it was only one page long instead of the ordinary five.

"Uh, Becker, are you missing part of this?"

Becker glanced at it, "Oh, yeah, sorry Jess. I must have just grabbed the top sheet by mistake. I'll get the rest to you in a bit, okay?"

Jess nodded and Becker grabbed one of her ringlets and gave it a tug. "Boing!" he whispered in her ear as it sprang back into place. Jess giggled and blushed.

Becker returned about ten minutes later with page two of the report. "Must be having an off day," he commented, "still haven't managed to bring you the entire thing." Jess stared at him suspiciously and Becker tugged at another ringlet. "Boing!"

It was only seven minutes later that page three arrived. Becker didn't even try to explain away the missing pages this time. He simply placed it on her desk and pulled a curl. "Boing!" Jess raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything. She wasn't the least bit surprised when page four came on its own too. "Boing!"

When page five finally arrived, Jess added it to the pile. "About time," she grinned at him, "Now what excuse are you going to make to come play with my hair?"

"Who said that's what this was about?" Becker asked, tugging at one of her ringlets.

Jess rolled her eyes and turned back to the ADD. "I'm brilliant Becker; don't forget it."

"Boing!"

By the end of the hour, Becker had returned to the ADD several more times. The first time he wanted to know if she had a grocery list ready for him yet. Jess shook her head, "No, sorry. I forgot about it because of the unexpected party last night. Not that I forgot about the dinner, because I didn't, I just forgot the list. I'll bring it tomorrow."

"Okay, sure. Boing!"

The second time he wanted to know if there was an anomaly, even though there obviously wasn't. Jess humoured him by checking and he thanked her and gently pulled her hair. "Boing!"

The third time he came by it was because he suddenly needed to know what brand of food Princess (Abby's dracorex) ate and the fourth time he just wanted to know what time it was.

"Are there no clocks in the armoury?"

"There was one, but I shot it."

"It's 10:45."

"Boing!"

At eleven 'o' clock Becker suddenly wanted to know if Jess preffered strawberry or vanilla ice cream and by half eleven he had completely stopped making excuses and was just walking over to the ADD every few minutes to tug at a ringlet and cry, "Boing!" Jess knew she should be annoyed, in fact she tried to act as though she was, but in reality she was thrilled by all the attention.

* * *

><p>By the time mid-afternoon had rolled around, Jess had decided that she was never wearing ringlets to work again. Ringlets made for a very, very unproductive day.<p>

Connor had stopped by and Jess offered him a piece of chocolate. He opened the box and saw Becker's note and grinned at her.

"Yep," Jess confirmed quietly, returning the grin. "He bought them for me this morning."

"And I hope you don't still doubt that he likes you."

Jess shrugged, "Could just be a friendly gesture. He knows I love my chocolate, but…"

"But what?"

Jess hesitated and then lowered her voice a bit, "He's stopped by here at least two dozen times today to play with my hair."

Connor burst out laughing, "Ah, young love. Speaking of which, I need to talk to you later, in private."

"About love?"

"After dinner when Abby goes for her daily jog, can we talk then?"

Jess nodded, "Sure."

"By the way, this morning Becker asked me what your pyjamas looked like."

Jess' eyes widened, "He asked…_What!_?" she spluttered in mortified surprise.

"You heard me. He said that knowing stuff about you could help him save your life one day and he needed to know about your sleepwear."

Jess' face turned a dark shade of red, "What did you tell him?"

"I told him about Christmas Wednesdays."

"_Connor_! That's embarrassing!"

"Nah, it's cute Jess, and totally you. Anyway, would you have preferred I mention Easter Thursdays, Silky Sundays, Shorts and a Tee-Shirt Mondays, or Sexy Nightgown Fridays?"

"How about you and Becker just don't discuss what I wear to bed at all?" Jess asked. Then suddenly she seemed to think about it and change her mind, "Or at least, don't tell him I've given you permission to bring up those other days too."

"Gotcha," Connor winked, "And Jess?"

"What?"

"The ringlets really are calling… just one?"

Jess laughed, "Fine."

Connor reached out and gave one a little tug.

"_Temple!_ What the hell do you think you're doing?" Becker's voice rang across the room as he strode over quickly.

Connor spun around and stared, wondering what he'd done this time. Jess met his eye and shrugged.

"Nobody but me gets to touch the ringlets," Becker announced as he approached them.

"Wow, possessive much?" Connor replied. Becker didn't seem to have an EMD on him, so he reached out to tug one more, just to prove his point.

Becker frowned, "You aren't even doing it right."

"I… what?"

"That barely bounced and you didn't even say boing. You have to pick your curls and pull them just the right amount. This one, for example," Becker grabbed one by Jess' ear, "Will be a great bounce if you pull it like so… Boing!"

Connor and Jess stared at Becker in silence for a moment until Connor broke it, "Wait. First I'm not allowed to touch her hair, and now I'm getting lessons?"

Becker ignored the question and pointed to the back of Jess' head, "Try that one."

Jess protested, "Guys! Seriously, enough. No one needs lessons on how to pull my hair! Besides, I'm supposed to be working here."

Becker grabbed Jess' chair and spun it around to face the ADD, "So work." Then he turned back to Connor, "Wait, here's an even better one, let me do it. Boing!"

"Ahem!" Matt entered the room just as Becker and Connor each grabbed a ringlet at the same time. "I'm, not interrupting anything, uh, weird, am I?"

"Nope!" Connor and Becker spoke in unison, wanting Matt to leave so they could continue. "We're just seeing who can bounce Jess' hair the highest."

"Leave her alone."

"Thank-you," Jess said pointedly to Matt.

Becker hesitated and then offered, "If you let us continue, we'll let you play too."

"Seriously, guys," Matt warned.

"Aren't you just a wee bit tempted?" Connor asked.

Matt burst out laughing, "Nope. Don't forget, Emily has curly hair too. Now scat before I call Lester." He winked at Jess and walked away.

Jess put her hands over her head, "You heard him. Seriously guys, enough."

"Sorry Jess," they said in unison. Becker kissed her cheek and Jess' face turned red again. She glanced at Connor and he grinned at her and left the pair alone.

Becker grabbed a chair and moved it to sit beside Jess, "Do you want some company?"

"You really have no work to do?"

"None."

"Now you do," Lester appeared behind them, "since you seem rather bored at the moment. The minister has just decided that we'd remember_ events_ better than _dates_ and has ordered a mass reorganization of the ARC's Field Report Archives. He wants everything rearranged into alphabetical order based on creature name instead of by date. You can use dates as a secondary system when the same creature has appeared more than once and file anything that we closed before an incursion under A for anomaly. Get on it."

Becker stared at Lester in disbelief, "You're kidding, right?"

"Does it sound like I'm joking? I was planning on assigning the task to Jess, but you just saved her the trouble."

Becker's face fell but he glanced at Jess, "Can I just…?

Jess had to agree. She knew he hated paperwork and felt a bit sorry for him. She gave a slight nod.

"Boing!"

* * *

><p>Becker sat alone in the ARC Archives surrounded by papers. He stared at them blankly, wondering what the fastest, most efficient way of starting out would be. He was actually relieved when the anomaly alert interrupted his thoughts.<p>

"What have we got, Jess?" he asked, switching on his comms.

"Small anomaly about thirty minutes from here. It's in a deserted factory. No sign of incursion."

Becker left with Abby, Matt and Connor and they dealt with the situation. It was a quick and easy mission and there work day was done when they returned.

"Don't think this gets you off Archive Duty!" Lester yelled after Becker as he hurried from the ARC. "I want it done tomorrow!"

Becker ignored him as he headed for home.


	8. The Proposal

Connor smiled as he watched Jess from across the table where they were eating the sushi that Abby had brought home. She was beaming from head to toe, if that was possible, and he knew it was because of the attention that Becker had been giving her all day. She reminded him so much of a younger version of himself sometimes.

As predicted, Abby excused herself for a jog right after dinner, leaving Jess and Connor to do the clean up, not that there was much after getting takeout. Jess turned to Connor, "So, you said you wanted to talk tonight?"

"Yep," Connor said, suddenly a bit nervous about what he wanted to discuss with her.

"About love?"

"Yep. Sorta."

"Okay Connor, spill."

Connor smiled and took her hand, excitedly pulling her into the living room. "Okay, listen Jess, do you remember a couple weeks ago when we talked about our living arrangements, and how Abby and I were starting to discuss finding a place of our own?"

Jess nodded, "Yes, let me guess, you found one."

Connor nodded and pulled a piece of paper with all the details and handed it to her. Jess gasped when she saw the picture of the place. "Connor, she'll love it, but I'll miss you terribly, but this is way perfect!"

"Oh trust me, you won't get a chance to miss me, I'll be around a lot," Connor laughed.

"I know."

"There's one more thing and then another thing I need your help with."

"What?"

"Well, I'm gonna surprise her, I'm gonna take her there tonight to see the place and then when we're there, I think I'll propose."

Jess screamed and threw her arms around Connor's neck excitedly. Connor burst out laughing and hugged his friend back, "I just hope her reaction is as good as yours," he said with a grin.

* * *

><p>Abby found Jess and Connor at her laptop in her room when she returned. "Guys, I'm just gonna watch a movie on the couch, wanna join me?"<p>

Connor quickly stood up, "Uh, actually Abby, I need to take you somewhere tonight and show you something."

Abby frowned, "What? Where?"

"I'll tell you on the way. You should probably shower first though and get changed into something nice."

"Connor, what's going on?" Abby asked suspiciously.

"I told you, I'll tell you on the way."

Abby sighed and then turned to obey him. Connor exchanged an excited secret smile with Jess and they went back to typing up recipes for his cookbook and chattering in between.

"You sure you can arrange everything, Jess?"

"Just leave it to me. Now, this recipe we just did, it sounds delicious. Can you teach me to make it tomorrow so I can do this one with Becker?"

"Of course."

"Great! Thanks Connor." Jess wrote down the ingredients on a piece of paper to give to Becker for his shopping list. "Did you hear what Lester is making Becker do?"

"The Archives? Yes I heard. He complained about it very loudly the entire way to and from the anomaly."

"Would it be too forward a gesture if I got up early tomorrow and did all the work for him before he arrived?"

Connor laughed, "Jess, he bought you chocolates and spent the entire day pulling your hair. You're cooking him dinner at his house! Somehow I don't think _paperwork_ is going to be that much more over the top."

"When you put it like that, it seems so simple."

Connor winked at her as Abby chose that moment to return. She was wearing a calf length red skirt and a white tank top with red trim on it.

"Wow, you look sexy," Connor nodded appreciatively.

"Is that alright? Where're we going, Con?"

Connor grabbed her hand and turned to Jess, "See you later Jess. Have a good night."

Jess nodded with a grin and watched them leave, Abby still begging for information, before picking up her phone to call Lester.

* * *

><p>"Connor, tell me where we are going," Abby demanded as they got into the car.<p>

Connor glanced at her, "Alright, you know how we've been wanting to get our own flat for awhile now? Well I found one that is perfect and I know you'll love it. I'm taking you to go see it."

"Really?"

"Really, now put this on." Connor handed her the sleeping mask that they had used as a blindfold in their drawing game the night before.

Abby looked at it doubtfully, "Why?"

"I want it to be a surprise. Don't want you to see where we're going."

Abby complied with a sigh. They drove in silence, just listening to the radio, for about twenty minutes. Finally Abby felt the car stop and she immediately asked, "Can I look yet?"

"Nope, not yet."

Abby heard Connor get out of the car and open her door. She felt his hand on her arm as he guided her out of the car and then suddenly she felt his lips on hers. She kissed him back, but when he let go of her she protested, "That's no fair Connor, I can't see."

"I couldn't resist," Connor said with a grin that she could sense even if she couldn't see it. He took her hand and led her a bit further until they stopped and she heard him unlatching the door.

"Now," he said, "you better love this place, because I've already put the down payment on it."

"What?"

"Trust me, you'll understand when you see how amazing this place is." He led her up some stairs, carefully, and then she heard a small click as he turned on some lights. He pulled her into what she sensed was the middle of a large room.

"Alright Abs, you can look now if you want."

Abby slowly removed the blindfold and then gasped. "Oh my gosh! Connor! How did you…?" She stopped, speechless, spinning around and around as she stared at the familiar old flat she had lived in for years before they'd been stuck in the Cretaceous.

"It came up for sale and I jumped at the chance. It was a fun flat, yeah? Welcome home, Abby."

Abby felt her eyes fill with tears, "Connor, thank-you," she whispered.

"You're welcome. I loved this place too. Only one thing though…"

"What?"

"Last time we lived here you made me sleep on the sofa."

Abby laughed, "Yeah, that should change I guess." She spun around and glanced up at the loft where Connor's pullout makeshift bed had been in the past.

"Exactly what I was thinking. Thought perhaps this time we should live here together as husband and wife."

Abby whirled around back to Connor so fast that she nearly knocked him over and found him holding out a ring to her. Her hand flew to her mouth in shock. He was giving her the puppy dog look that she'd never been able to say no too. She couldn't help it, she burst into tears of joy and flung her arms around his neck. "That's a brilliant idea, Connor!" she exclaimed.

Connor laughed and kissed her. When she finally pulled away, he slipped the ring onto her finger and kissed her again. It was quite a long time before either spoke after that, but finally Abby asked, "When can we move in?"

"Any time, but it'll be awhile before we can get a moving company and I'd like to give Jess a bit of notice. I mean, she knows about this, but she doesn't know I actually bought the place already. I booked a moving truck for a month from now."

"Does she know it was where we used to live?"

"Yeah, when it was repossessed she had to help clear it out with Lester."

"I didn't know that. Does she know you proposed?"

"Yeah, I was too excited, I had to tell her. Which reminds me, I promised her I'd let her know how it goes. I better text her."

Abby nodded and began to explore the old familiar flat while Connor fired of a text to Jess and told her they were ready.

* * *

><p>Jess sent the confirmation of plans to Lester with a grin on her face. Lester called her back after receiving her text.<p>

"I'm on it, Jess. You know, I'd normally complain about two parties in a row like this, but it's about bloody time he proposed."

Jess giggled, "Do you have the gifts?"

"Unfortunately, yes."

"Meet you there."

When she hung up the phone there was a waiting text message from Becker. "Jess, why the hell is Lester ordering us to a pub tonight?"

Jess called him and he picked up immediately, "We're meeting there and then heading to Connor and Abby's new flat which is actually their old flat where we're having an impromptu party to celebrate the fact that they just got engaged!"

"They… what? Wow!"

Jess smiled, "So, see you there?"

"Yeah, no, I, want me to pick you up so we can go together?"

Jess nodded happily before realising he couldn't actually see her through the phone, "Yes, sure! I'd love that."

"I'll see you in twenty minutes then. Jess?"

"Yeah?"

"Is your hair still curly?"

Jess burst out laughing, "Goodbye Becker, I'll see you in a bit."


	9. The Party

Becker showed up at Jess' door exactly twenty minutes later with a bouquet of assorted flowers for her that he'd picked up on his way over and that he now held behind his back.

Since the night that he'd decided to win Jess over once and for all, he'd done some more thinking. He knew that if he asked her to be his girlfriend, she'd probably agree in an instant, but where was the fun in that? He loved to see her embarrass herself and blush and ramble on and get flustered just for him. He wasn't quite ready for that to stop. Of course, kissing Jess was probably more fun than watching her blush, but for now he'd just let fate take his own course. He'd see how many little things he could do for Jess before the topic presented itself or he gave in and kissed her senseless, whichever came first. He had a feeling he wouldn't last long.

Jess opened the door and Becker's face lit up when he noticed that the ringlets were still in place. Jess saw the grin and the way his eyes touched upon her curls. "I tried to brush them out, actually, but apparently my hair holds ringlets quite well."

Becker gave her a puzzled look, "But, why would you try to do that?"

Jess laughed, "Because they've been in for long enough."

"Impossible," Becker proclaimed firmly. Then he held out the flowers to her.

Jess grinned, "Oh, those are great; they'll love them."

Becker frowned, "Who will?"

"Abby and Connor."

"Oh," Becker paused, "I, yeah, this is for their engagement, isn't it? I guess I should've gotten them some. I didn't even think about it."

Jess stared at him, puzzled, and gestured to the flowers, "But…"

"These are for you, Jessica."

"Oh," Jess' face turned bright red. Becker had bought her flowers! And she'd gone and made them both look dumb by assuming they'd been for Connor and Abby. "I, thank-you. I love them. I'm sorry, I just assumed, I didn't mean you should've gotten them flowers, I mean, I didn't get them any either, so please, don't feel badly about that."

Becker raised his eyebrows. "Jessica, I bought you flowers and you're apologizing for them." Jess bit down on her bottom lip to stop herself from saying anything else and Becker laughed. "Well," he said, "I suppose we could always give them these ones."

"No!" Jess protested quickly, "They're mine!"

Becker chuckled. "Then let's get them some water. May I come in?"

Jess suddenly realised that they were still standing outside and she quickly nodded and moved aside to let him pass into the flat. They moved to the kitchen and Jess grabbed a vase and filled it with water. Becker unwrapped the flowers and placed them carefully inside.

"They're gorgeous!" Jess said, taking the vase and placing them in her bedroom. She emerged again a moment later, smiling. "Ready to go?"

Becker nodded and glanced at Jess, "You look nice, by the way." She really did, very cheery. She wore a bright yellow top and an orange skirt. Her ringlets were held back with a lime green headband that matched her lime green heels.

Jess blushed again at the compliment. "Thank-you," she replied and Becker grinned at the totally flustered expression on her face. He moved to her side and placed his hand on the small of her back as he guided her back outside to his car.

* * *

><p>They arrived at the pub that was just around the corner from Connor and Abby's flat a few minutes later and saw Lester coming across the parking lot with his wife at the same time. Jess ran over to greet them with Becker close behind her. "Is everyone coming?" Jess called out.<p>

"They are," Lester confirmed, "I threatened every single one of them."

"And you have the gifts?"

"In the back seat."

Jess nodded, but before she could move to Lester's car, she heard Becker call out a greeting across the parking lot and she followed his gaze to see Matt and Emily strolling hand-in-hand towards them. Jess smiled and waved at them happily.

"So," Matt greeted them as they reached the group. "They're finally getting hitched are they?"

Jess nodded excitedly, "And I was the first to know, even before Abby!" Then she blushed and glanced at Becker to see if he thought her outburst was childish, but he just grinned at her.

Lester took the moment to introduce everyone to his wife, Portia. Portia smiled as she moved to shake hands with Jess first. "So, you're the voice on the other end of the phone quite often when I call James at work. Nice to finally put a face to your name." Then she turned to the others, "To all your names, actually. James is always talking about how great you all are."

Becker raised his eyebrows, "Really? Because…" He stopped short though when he saw the death glare that his boss was giving him and Jess giggled.

"So, are we all here?" Emily asked.

Jess shook her head, "No, Jenny and Michael are coming…"

"Yay!" Emily squealed.

"As are Jack and his girlfriend Aliona."

Emily frowned, "Who?"

"Abby's brother," Lester explained. "He's the only family she's got, and as the party is for her, we figured it'd only be right to invite him too, troublemaker though he may be."

"Oh."

Jess saw Becker frown beside her too and she whispered to him quietly while Lester told Emily a bit more about Jack, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, I'm just not overly fond of Jack, that's all." Becker said, and then smiled as he realised that he was once again confiding personal information to Jess. Man, this girl was easy to open up to at times.

"Why not?"

Becker glanced at the others nearby and shrugged, "I'll tell you later."

"Promise?"

Becker nodded and, to Jess' surprise, he reached for her hand and quickly pulled it up to kiss the back of it. Jess blushed as he did so and then blushed even deeper when she noticed the strange looks that Matt and Emily gave them, but Becker didn't seem to mind as he continued to hold her hand tightly after lowering it again. Jess felt her entire body tingle with excitement at his touch.

Jenny and Michael pulled up into the parking lot a moment later. "Hi!" Jenny cried out as she ran towards them.

Jess grinned, "Gad you could make it! I was worried you'd have left for Italy already."

Jenny shook her head, "Our flight is actually in seven hours, super late time to be leaving but the airfare was cheaper. When I heard the occasion though, we had to be here."

"Oh, wow, seven hours until you leave? You guys will be zonked!"

"Don't remind me," Jenny laughed.

"And here's Jack," Becker announced as another car pulled up. Jess turned curiously, excited to finally see what Abby's brother actually looked like. She'd been excited to meet him too, until Becker's admission a moment ago. Now she was a bit nervous about it. She felt Becker tighten his grip on her hand a bit, though she thought he probably wasn't aware he had done it.

Jack, however, seemed all right to Jess. He made his way over to the group with a grin on his face. "Hey, guys! What's up? Where's Abby? Where's the party?" he tossed his hair back a bit and gestured to the girl with the blonde ponytail that stood beside him, "This is Aliona. Aliona, these are my sister's coworkers."

"Abby's at her flat," Lester replied, "It's around the corner and we're headed there now."

"Great! Party On!" Then suddenly Jack noticed that Becker was glaring at him and he turned to the soldier. "Uh, right, I guess my thanks to you for saving my life is a bit overdue, yeah?"

Becker raised his eyebrow, but Jess felt him relax a bit, but he didn't say anything.

"Yeah, so, thanks," Jack continued, "And I know you've probably heard what I said on the bus that day so I'll apologize for that too. I was in a bit of shock and that combined with the fact that I was an immature dolt at the time… well, let's just say I didn't mean it. Incident did make me rethink some things and grow up a bit though."

Aliona looked at her boyfriend and giggled, "I don't know what you're talking about, Babe, buy you're still immature."

Her commented lightened the mood and even Becker laughed. He let go of Jess and gave Jack a friendly slap on the arm, "Apology accepted, Kiddo. Let's go."

* * *

><p>Abby held Connor's hand tightly as he whilred her around the room. After his proposal and a lot of tears and kisses from both parties, Connor had informed Abby that he had his laptop in the car with a bunch of music ready to go on it and asked if she'd like to dance with him. Abby had happily accepted and they'd been dancing now for a good half hour, during which time their eyes had remained locked to each others. They spun around the room, speaking volumes to one another with their looks, but remaining silent outwardly. It was only when a loud knock came on the door that they broke apart. Abby frowned, "Who on earth could that be?"<p>

Connor didn't reply as Abby headed to the door to open it.

"Surprise!" Everyone yelled and "Congrats!" Abby gasped and then grinned and threw herself in for a group hug, laughing.

"You guys are too much!" She exclaimed, as she moved aside to let them all in. Then she suddenly noticed that Jack was with them and burst into fresh tears of joy as she flung her arms around his neck.

Jack hugged her back and whispered, "Congrats, Sis!" into her ear.

Abby nodded and pulled away after a moment longer. She turned to everyone, beaming, "Well, I guess this means it's a party."

Connor switched the music over to something a bit faster and Emily held up a full grocery bag, "I brought snacks!"

Aliona held up a bottle, "And Jack brought champagne."

Abby grinned, "You guys, this is incredible. We're a bit short of furniture at the moment though, we'll have to put all this on the floor."

Connor shook his head, "It can go on the window seat, Abs."

"Good thinking."

"And where do you want the gifts?" Lester asked, gesturing to the two large boxes that he and Matt had carried in.

Connor even looked surprised at that, Abby noted. "What gifts?" he asked.

Lester gestured to the boxes that were now on the floor. "This one is for Abby and the bigger one for you," he told Connor. "You guys should open them now, and at the same time."

Connor grinned and ran to his box, "Lester! You really got me a big present?"

"They're from everyone," Lester laughed, "And we didn't have time to shop, so not really, but it's the thought that counts."

"Didn't know you were so sentimental."

Abby chuckled and turned to Connor, "On three?"

Connor nodded, but Abby only counted to two before her box chirruped and Connor's said "Hi!" They ripped the loose flaps open as Nancy, Sid and Rex came hopping out joyfully. Abby squealed and jumped up to give Lester a hug.

"We figured they'd be happier here than at the ARC," Matt explained, "So we're giving them back."

"What the hell are_ they_?" Aliona asked as Rex delightedly took to the air and circled around the familiar loft with joy.

"Rare pets," Jack told her with a grin, "Have some champagne."


	10. Breakfast in the Archives

Jess and Jenny began to pour champagne for everyone while Emily and Matt handed out napkins and snacks. Then, when everyone held a plastic cup full of champagne, Lester made a rather nice toast to the happy couple with surprisingly little sarcasm in it.

After they had drank to Connor and Abby's health and happiness and talked for a bit, Jack, Aliona, Lester and Portia started up the dancing and everyone joined in one at a time as they finished their food and drinks. Everyone that was, except Jess and Becker. Jess suddenly became very aware that they were the only two people in the room that weren't in a relationship. She wondered vaguely if Becker would ask her to dance, but he was leaning against the brick wall and showing no interest whatsoever. It wasn't fair, Jess thought, even Sid, Rex, and Nancy were dancing around the room (and tripping everyone up in the process.) Jess took a deep breath and moved over to stand beside Becker. She'd just have to ask_ him_ instead.

As soon as Becker saw Jess approaching, he knew what she wanted and sighed. It wasn't that the idea of dancing with Jess was unattractive in itself, but Becker was unprepared to make of fool of himself in front of his other coworkers quite yet. Before Jess could even speak, he locked eyes with her, "Forget it, Jess. I don't dance."

Jess sighed audibly and turned to lean against the wall beside him, "Don't be a spoil sport, Hilary. It's just for fun."

Becker raised his eyebrows at her use of his first name. She didn't use it often, only when she was annoyed. She did it to bug him, but secretly he liked it just because she was the only one to ever use it and it felt special. Just, not special enough to dance. Becker chuckled, "Sorry, Jess, but it's not happening."

Jess harrumphed, but she gave up as she stood silently and watched the others. Almost immediately, Becker began to feel sorry. After all, Jess had organized this, she should at least have the chance to dance. He was debating within himself as to which was worse, seeing Jess disappointed, or letting everyone witness his lack of dancing ability, when Lester approached.

"Wife's tired of her toes being stepped on and needs a break, wanna dance Jess?" He asked. Jess knew that he'd probably convinced Portia to let her have a turn, and she nodded gratefully.

"Sure, but do try to be careful of my feet. I've got new shoes on, you know."

Lester laughed, "I can't promise to be graceful; will you take the risk?"

"I'd love to," Jess said with a smile and a pointed look at Becker, before taking the offered hand.

* * *

><p>Becker had sulked for the rest of the evening after Lester had whisked Jess away. Portia was pleasant enough company, but he was missing Jess. He knew he should go ask to cut in and dance with her, but for some reason he held back. Really, he could be stupidly stubborn at times.<p>

The party didn't last too long; they all had to get up early in the morning for work or other reasons, except Portia. Jess gave Lester a peck on the cheek to thank him for dancing with her, which amused Jenny very much as she wasn't used to seeing Lester act nice to anyone. They said their goodbyes to Connor and Abby and wished Jenny and Michael a wonderful trip and then started to head out. Becker moved to Jess' side and placed a hand on the small of her back as he went to escort her out.

Connor grinned at them as they left, "See ya later, Jess," he said. Jess nodded, knowing that Abby and Connor would probably stay at the flat for quite a bit longer.

* * *

><p>The air outside was quite cool and Jess shivered a bit. Immediately Becker stopped and gave her his jacket. Jess grinned in surprise at the gesture and got a bit flustered again, "Thank-you," she said, "For bringing me here, and for the jacket. Are you not cold, though? You are, aren't you? I'd better not take it; you can have it back, not that I don't appreciate it, because I do, I love that you gave me your jacket. I mean, you didn't give it to me, just let me use it. It's so lovely and warm. Do you want it back?" She blushed, knowing she was rambling and Becker was just staring at her, giving her that look.<p>

Finally he shook his head and chuckled, "You keep it tonight. If I freeze we'll consider it my punishment for not dancing with you."

Jess laughed, "Good point. You really should have. Why don't you dance?"

"Dunno how."

"Neither do Jack or Abby, and Lester stomped on my foot quite a few times, but it's still fun!"

"I wouldn't have heard the end of it from Connor or Matt anyway," Becker laughed, though he really did regret the fat that he had blown the chance to dance with Jess in his arms. He sighed and then said, "Okay, here's the deal: I'll dance one dance with you at their wedding."

Jess' eyes lit up, "Really? You mean that?"

Becker nodded, "Yeah, but just one, and not until I've had a few drinks."

Jess grinned happily as she stared ahead of them and Becker smiled to himself. He really did love seeing her smile. How could she be so happy about a promise that would probably be at least a year in the coming? He suddenly grabbed her hand as they turned into the pub's parking lot, "Oh, come on then, I give up. The pub's open and it has a dance floor."

Jess' eyes widened, "For real?"

Becker nodded, "On one condition."

"I promise, I won't say a word."

* * *

><p>Becker woke up the next morning with a smile on his face. Jess had been so happy that he'd taken her out the night before. They'd only actually danced two dances, as they'd both had to be up for work, but she was right, it had been fun: awkward, but fun. Her smile had made it worth it. Since when had he become such a sop?<p>

He'd driven her home and Jess had rambled the entire way about how much fun she'd had. Becker had let her keep his jacket for the night, even though he knew she hadn't needed it anymore, because she hadn't taken it off. He'd carefully refrained from kissing her, at least on the lips, but he had given her ringlets a tug when he'd said goodnight to her at her flat. All in all, it'd been a great night.

He climbed out of bed and glanced at his clock. It was nearly seven thirty, which was later than he normally slept. He grabbed his mobile and sent Jess a text to wish her good morning.

* * *

><p>Jess sat on the floor in the ARC Archives, going through all the old mission reports. She'd long since run out of room for paper piles on the table. She was determined to have all, or at least most, of the papers filed before Becker arrived for the start of his shift. She was exhausted after the late night, but she really wanted to surprise Becker, especially after he'd taken her dancing the night before.<p>

Beside her, her mobile vibrated and Jess glanced at the message coming through. _Morning Jess!_

Jess frowned, Becker never texted her just to say good morning. That was odd. Odd, but good, she corrected herself, her frown changing into a smile. She picked up her phone and typed back, _Morning :D_

She'd barely put the phone down when it rang. "Hi," she said, answering it.

"Jess, wanna go grab some breakfast with me before work?"

Jess groaned softly. Breakfast with Becker sounded like a dream come true, why did he have to ask her now when she was busy? "I'd have loved that," she said, "but I'm already at work."

"Oh."

There was an awkward silence for a moment and Jess felt like she should really say something else, so she began to talk, "Thanks, though, I mean, for inviting me. Maybe another time, I know you didn't ask about another time and you've never asked before so you probably won't feel like it ever again, but if you ever do sometime, I would like to go for breakfast with you, if you wanted me to."

Becker chuckled, knowing that if he could see Jess, she'd be blushing, "Well, what do you want to eat? I'll pick up breakfast and bring it there."

Jess couldn't believe how Becker had been acting lately and she grinned, "That would be so wonderful! Would you really do that? I'd love a muffin and some extra frothy coffee if you are really willing to pick that up for me! I can't wait to see you!" She blushed deeply the instant the words were out of her mouth, horrified that she'd added that last part on, but before she could ramble out an explanation and dig a deeper hole for herself, Becker responded.

"Yeah, I can't wait to see you either. I'll be there soon." Then he hung up the phone.

Jess' jaw literally dropped in astonishment as she stared at the mobile in her hand. Had Becker really just said he couldn't wait to see her? She started to dial Connor's number to tell him about it, but then thought he'd probably still be in bed with Abby. They'd been out late the night before and they probably wanted to sleep in. Those two were always late for work. She'd tell Connor tonight when she had her cooking lesson with him.

Jess was about three quarters of the way done reorganizing the files when her mobile rang again.

"Hey!" she answered, tucking the phone between her shoulder and chin.

"Jess, I'm here, but you're not."

Right, of course Becker was expecting her to be at the ADD. "I'm looking for an old mission report. I'm in the Archives." She didn't tell him what she was really doing, even though he'd see soon enough, because she wanted to see his expression when he found out.

"Be right there," Becker said. He grinned as he hung up the phone. This was perfect, after Jess had eaten, maybe he could get her opinion on the best way to reorganize the files. He was dreading the job he had to do later that afternoon.

He found Jess a moment later surrounded by files on the floor. Jess smiled at him, blushing as she remembered what he'd said on the phone about wanting to see her. Becker sat beside her and leaned against the wall as he handed her a coffee and a paper bag with a large blueberry muffin in it.

"Thanks!" Jess smiled as she sipped at the coffee and continued working on the files. She wondered how long it would take Becker to actually notice what she was doing.

The only thing Becker really paid attention to though was Jess herself. He'd meant it when he'd said that he couldn't wait to see her. Jess was going through a bunch of papers, apparently still looking for whatever it was she needed. Becker slid himself over so that he was closer to her, really close, and Jess stopped what she was doing to look at him.

"Why are you here so early anyway Jess? Your shift hasn't started yet."

Jess gestured at all the papers, "I wanted to finish this."

"Finish what?" Becker looked puzzled, and then suddenly it dawned on him. His mouth dropped, "Jess, _I_ was supposed to do all this."

"Yeah."

"Then why…."

"You hate paperwork. I'm almost done."

Becker grinned at her and kissed her cheek, "Jess, you're amazing! Have I ever mentioned that you're my favourite person in the world? Thank-you!"

Jess' face lit up, "Thanks! I didn't know that, but I'm happy since you're my favourite person too, except you probably didn't mean it so literally, just a saying, I know, but …"

"Nope," Becker interrupted her firmly, "I meant it." Then he glanced at his watch and heaved a huge sigh, "Sorry, Jess, but I've got a new back up team waiting for me to give them some training."

Jess nodded, "That's okay, I'll finish this quickly, won't take me long."

Becker started to get up and leave, but suddenly Jess called him back, "Wait! Here, before I forget, this is the grocery list you wanted."

"And you're still going to cook for me tomorrow?"

Jess nodded determinedly, "Of course!"

Becker smiled at her, "I can't wait!"


	11. Jess' Lesson

"Okay, Con, let's do this!" Jess said with a grin as she hopped up onto the kitchen bar stool.

Connor grinned back at her, "You don't know how happy I am to be having a home cooked meal instead of Chinese Food tonight, Jess."

"Chinese food is yummy!"

Connor rolled his eyes, but didn't bother arguing. It was hard to care when Jess was actually here and willing to do some real cooking on her night to get dinner. "Now," he said to her, "We've already written the recipe down and it _is _your turn to cook, so I'm just gonna let you go ahead while I supervise. I've got all the ingredients right ready, you just have to follow them, capeesh?"

Jess nodded, "Capeesh." She unfolded the recipe that she had printed off her computer and flattened it on the counter top. She read it silently to herself once over, and then aloud again to Connor as she followed it.

"Rinse boneless lamb chops under cold water," Jess scrunched up her face a bit as she read, but she did the job. "I hate touching raw meat."

Connor laughed at her, "You gotta do it if you want to cook. Just wash your hands after."

Jess nodded and did so and then turned back to the recipe, "Chop mint into fine pieces." She turned to him, "Where's the mint?"

Connor handed her a leafy sprig and Jess stared at it, puzzled, "That's a mint? Looks like a plant."

"Mint is a plant, Jess."

"That's weird; I thought it was a candy, you know, to freshen your breath with."

"Geez, Jess, you have to do this more often. Trust me on this one; mint is a plant."

"I hope Becker knows that."

"Why? What did you tell him?"

"Nothing, but I gave him a shopping list for what we need and I put down mint. I hope he doesn't buy sweets."

Connor burst out laughing at the thought of Jess sprinkling some sort of peppermint shreds or something over her lamb.

"It's not funny! What if he buys candy? I'd better text him and tell him that mint is a plant."

Connor shook his head, "Never mind, Jess, we've got plenty of it. I'll give you a few sprigs you can hide in your purse and bring over there in case he bought the wrong thing."

Jess nodded relieved, "Thanks Con, I appreciate that."

Connor kissed her cheek, "Anything for you; now carry on."

Jess chopped up the mint as small as she could, and then Connor helped her make it even smaller. Jess turned back to the recipe, "Mix ½ tsp pepper, 1 tbsp lemon juice, ¼ tsp mint, and 2 tbsp soy sauce together."

Connor watched proudly as she carefully measured out the ingredients perfectly into a bowl. She stirred until Connor told her it was fine.

"Pour half the sauce into a large container, put the lamb in it, pour the other half onto the lamb; I hope Becker has a large container."

"Take this one with you, just in case."

"Right, I'd better." Jess said as she followed the instructions and then read, "Refrigerate for thirty minutes. _Thirty minutes?!_ What do we do while we wait?"

"It's not that long, Jess, we'll start with the other stuff while we're waiting. Preheat the griddle and then also put some potatoes in the oven at 350. Might want to microwave them for a few minutes first so they cook faster while the oven is preheating."

Jess did so and then Connor got her to chop up some onions, ham, garlic and broccoli into tiny pieces. "So," he asked, as she chopped, "Did you ever do all that file arranging stuff for Becker like you were going to?"

Jess nodded, a slight blush creeping over her cheeks.

Connor grinned, "What's that smile I see? Tell me what happened, Jess."

"He phoned me up while I was working on it and offered to take me out for breakfast, when I said I was busy he bought me coffee and a muffin and brought it to the ARC. _Plus, _on the phone he said he couldn't wait to see me, _and _he kissed my cheek again."

Connor smiled at her, "Wanna make a bet?"

Jess looked at him, interested, "I dunno, I already lost one bet within the last two days and now I have to sit through whatever movie Becker picks…"

Connor chuckled, "Yeah, and you're so upset about having to watch a movie with Becker…"

"That's besides the point," Jess giggled.

"This bet you _can't _lose."

Jess raised her eyebrows, "I'm interested, keep talking."

"I bet you that you and Becker are officially a couple by the time you come home from his place tomorrow night. If I lose, then you win, obviously, but if I win, then you win even more because your dream comes true, yeah?"

Jess pondered for a minute, "You really think that'll happen?"

"I'm willing to bet on it, ain't I?'

"Fine, I accept, but what's the prize?"

"If I win, you have to cook a proper meal on your days for the entire month until Abs and I move out. I don't mind helping, but no take-out or restaurant food or pre-prepared package junk."

"And if I win?"

"I'll help you EMD Becker for being an idiot and _not _asking you out."

Jess giggled again but shook her head, "Yeah, right, okay if I win then you're going to prepare a dessert made out of chocolate on every one of your days to cook for a month."

"Deal," Connor said, shaking Jess' hand.

"Has it been half hour yet?"

Connor glanced at his watch, "Yeah, you can pull the lamb out now. Depending on time though, the longer you can marinate it, the better. Now, put it on the griddle for ten minutes on each side. We can start with the salad too."

Jess nodded and when the lamb was on the griddle she started washing and cutting up the romaine lettuce and Connor gave her a hand with chopping up the tomatoes and cucumbers, just because he knew it was something she'd have no trouble with later and he wanted to help save her some time. He dumped them into the salad bowl with the lettuce and told her to grate a bit of cheddar cheese on top and then to take some frozen peas out of the freezer and put them in a bowl of hot water for a little bit to defrost them. She did that and then Connor helped her to flip carefully flip the lamb over on the griddle. By that time the potatoes were about done and Connor took them out oven but left it on.

"Now," Connor told her, "scoop the potatoes out of the skins and into a bowl."

Jess did so and Connor put the skins onto a baking sheet and handed her a masher, "Mix some more grated cheese, as well as the little bits of onion, ham, garlic and broccoli that you cut up into the potatoes."

Jess did so until Connor was satisfied. Then he showed her how to scoop the potato mixture back into the skins and put just a little more grated cheese on top of each one.

"There, now they all go back into the oven. They won't take long at all, just keep a close eye on them until the cheese melts, should just be a couple minutes.

Jess nodded and did so. They finished at about the same time as the lamb, so Connor pulled them out of the oven while he had Jess remove the lamb from the griddle and turn off both.

"Now," Connor said, "Whatever you do, don't cut into the lamb for five minutes, that way it'll stay moist. You can add the peas to the salad though."

Jess did that and then Connor had her put on a honey yoghurt dressing and toss it all together with a few croutons.

"And Presto!" Connor said with a grin, "Dinner is served! You did great!"

Jess beamed and threw her arms around him, "Thanks, Con! It even smells yummy!"

"Of course it does. We'd better put it in the warming rack while we wait for Abby to show up."

"Where is she, anyway?"

"At the new flat, keeping the pets company. Said she'd be back at dinner, so she should be here any minute."

"Can we make more of the Cherry Cheese Danishes just to make sure I haven't forgotten how? Becker wants those again."

Connor nodded and they set to work. They were just finishing when Abby came in and gave Connor a kiss hello. "Wow, it smells good in here," she commented.

"Jess made dinner!" Connor said with a grin.

Abby looked at Jess suspiciously, "Twice in a week? What's going on, guys?"

Jess blushed and Abby squealed, "Oh, it's gotta be something to do with Becker then. Well, come on, let's get washed up and you two can fill me in while we eat."

Jess sighed, but knew that she wasn't going to hear the end of it until she spilled the beans about the dinner the next day. She just hoped that Connor kept his mouth shut about the rest of the stuff, she didn't really want anyone to know until it was official that her and Becker were going out. _If _it ever did become official. She knew one thing, cooking tomorrow better go as good as it had with Connor or she'd never hear the end of it.


	12. Kitchen Rank

Jess shifted her weight from one foot to the other nervously as she waited for Becker to open his front door. It didn't take long; he opened it almost instantly after she rang the bell.

"Hi Jess!" he grinned at her, but his grin turned into a look of puzzlement when he saw the huge armful of stuff she was carrying. "What's all this? I already did the shopping."

"It's not groceries," Jess replied, "I wasn't sure if you had a griddle or not, so I brought one as well as a container to marinate the lamb, plus there's another container filled with the Cherry Cheese Danishes. I made some more last night for Connor, Abby and I and there was a lot left over, so I figured I might as well cheat a little by just bringing them with me." She shifted the load of stuff and Becker quickly took it from her and stood aside so that she could get past him and into the flat and slip off her shoes.

"You look nice," Becker complimented her. Jess glanced down at her lacy fuchsia coloured dress as if just noticing what she was wearing and blushed, "Thanks."

"No ringlets, though…"

Jess burst out laughing, "No, I need to concentrate on my work in the kitchen and I know for a fact that you pulling my hair every few seconds isn't going to help. And speaking of the kitchen, show me where I'm going."

Becker nodded and carried the armful of stuff she had brought ahead of her. Jess glanced around at his place as she followed him. The place wasn't quite as bare as she'd expected it would be. The walls were a plain beige, as was the carpet, but he did have pictures up. There was a large framed picture of a gun over the mantle in the living room, Jess noticed with a grin as she walked past. Becker put the stuff down on the kitchen table as they entered.

"Was that your gun?" Jess asked.

Becker looked at her puzzled, "Where?"

"The picture above your fireplace. Did you take the photograph?"

Becker chuckled, "Oh that, yes and no. Yes, it's my gun, but no, I didn't take the picture. A friend of mine took it as a joke once and had it blown up and framed for my birthday. He said I loved guns so much I should hang the photo over my mantle. He may have been kidding, but I thought it was a great idea."

Jess burst out laughing as she walked back towards the living room to take a closer look at it. "Somehow it suits you," she said with a smile.

Becker nodded as he came to stand behind her, "Yeah, he was a good photographer."

"Was?"

"Army buddy. It's a dangerous job."

"Oh, I'm sorry," Jess blushed and looked down at her feet, wishing she hadn't brought up the picture.

Becker smiled at her, reading her mind, "It's alright, Jess. It was a long time ago now."

Jess nodded, but Becker could see she looked really sad still: sad about the death of someone she'd never met. Gosh was this girl compassionate. He put a hand on her shoulder and when Jess finally looked up at him, he drew her unexpectedly into a quick hug. "Cheer up, Jessica, that's an order. This is supposed to be a fun afternoon, alright?"

Jess did cheer up at the hug as she quickly hugged him back before pulling away somewhat reluctantly, but knowing she'd make a fool of herself if she didn't. "Sorry, alright, I should get cooking then. What are you going to do?"

Becker raised his eyebrows, "Help? Watch?"

Jess shook her head, "No way. You'll be in the way. Just, sit here and watch TV or something." The truth was, she thought that having Becker watch would make her more nervous and she didn't want him around in case she made any little mistakes or had to text Connor for some last minute questions.

Becker raised his eyebrows, "You're ordering me to watch TV?"

"Yes, I am: A direct order."

"I'm not certain you have the authority to do that. It _is _my flat, after all."

Jess giggled, "Yes, but if you want me to cook for you, I'm pulling kitchen rank."

"Kitchen rank?"

"That's right."

"In _my_ kitchen?"

"Correct again."

Becker sighed and plonked himself down on the couch, but Jess could see the laughter in his eyes. "Fine, you win. Call me if you need something."

"I will." Jess turned and headed back to towards the kitchen when she suddenly noticed the framed picture on the table against his wall. She stared, startled, at her own face smiling back. "Becker?"

Becker turned around to see what she wanted and groaned, "Oh, that, I forgot to hide it."

"Becker, where'd you get a photo of me?"

"It was in the album that Abby made from the Christmas party last year. I borrowed it and scanned it."

"Okay, _why _do you have a picture of me?" Jess tried to act annoyed, but the truth was, she was thrilled with the idea that Becker had done it and she couldn't hide her grin. Anyway, it wasn't like she didn't have a picture of him hidden away in her wallet.

"Because, sometimes, when I come home alone after a hard day, I feel a bit down and I need something to cheer me up. Also, the picture reminds me of what's waiting when I get to work and convinces me to get up and go to work on the days I don't feel like it."

"Wow," was the only thing Jess could think of to say.

Becker stared at her, silent for a moment and then asked, "Do you mind?"

"No, no, of course not. I'm just surprised, that's all. Actually, I love that you have a picture of me, I mean, for the reasons you said, because I wouldn't want you to just not come to work because you had no inspiration to do so, but I kind of like it that I'm your inspiration."

Becker chuckled, "Alright then, as long as you don't mind, I'm keeping the photo. Now, weren't you going to cook me something?"

Jess nodded and scurried into the kitchen and started looking for the ingredients she needed. She found most of the stuff, but she couldn't find the mint. She looked for both the candies and the plant kinds. She was tempted to pull the sprigs out from her purse, but she didn't want to do that yet in case he had bought it and noticed she didn't use any.

"Becker," she called, peeking her head around the corner, "Did you get mint?"

Becker nodded, "Sort of. To be honest Jess, I didn't know what you meant. I asked the store lady for help with most of the ingredients and when she asked what kind I said I didn't know, so…" he stood and walked into the kitchen and pulled a plastic bag out of the pantry, "Mint."

Jess opened the bag and giggled. He did have the mint leaves, and some in a jar that were pre-crushed. He also had mint jelly, mint extract, and then a whole bunch of candy: scotch mints, peppermints, spearmints, tic tacs and candy canes.

"I just need the leafy kind," she informed him. "So you can put the rest back."

"Okay, but are you sure? I have one more kind of mint too."

Jess looked at him curiously and Becker produced a box of After Eight Chocolate Dinner mints from the closet.

Jess' face lit up, "Oh, yes, I most definitely need those ones too."

Becker laughed and held the box above her head, making her jump to grab them. She still couldn't reach, but he gave them to her after a couple of tries, "Yep," he said, "I thought you might say that. Now, what else do you need help with?"

Jess laughed and pushed him back out of the room, "Nothing, scurry along why don't you so I can get started."

Becker did so, but he protested profusely the entire way.


	13. The Deal

"Becker!" Jess scolded, "Now look what you made me do!" He had snuck up behind her just as she was measuring the pepper into her marinade sauce and startled her enough that she'd dumped a quarter of the container in as well.

"Oops," Becker smiled at her rather sheepishly, "Sorry, Jess, but it's okay; I happen to love pepper: the more the better."

Jess tried to glare at him, but he gave her a little pout and she couldn't help but to burst out laughing, "Yeah, you _better _love pepper," she threatened. "I thought I ordered you to watch TV."

"I tried, there was nothing on. C'mon, Jess, isn't there something I can do to help?"

Jess sighed, but finally relented. "Fine, you can start washing and cutting up the stuff for the salad."

Becker scrunched up his nose, "Can't I do something fun, like stirring or measuring?"

"_No_," Jess said, giving him a look of disbelief.

Becker heaved a great sigh, but obediently began washing some lettuce without any other signs of protest. Jess added a little bit more of all the other ingredients to her mixture to try and disguise the taste of the pepper. She hoped it was alright to do so, but she didn't want to text Connor with Becker right there. She popped an After Eight into her mouth as she worked.

"Becker, your fridge is like, empty," she commented as she placed the container of lamb inside it to sit for the required thirty minutes and turned her attention to the potatoes. Proudly, she remembered to pre-heat the oven as she washed and cut them up.

"I know," Becker said, "I told you, I eat take-out."

"Still, you could buy some quick snacks to store here: fruit or something."

Becker shrugged, "I do, sometimes; I've just eaten it all earlier, that's all."

Jess sighed and began to chop up the onions, garlic, ham and broccoli and told Becker to grate some cheese. By the time that was done, it was time for the meat to go on the griddle. She carefully set it on top and put the potatoes in the oven that was now hot enough and turned to find that Becker had stopped helping and was just staring at her, watching her work.

"What?" she asked him, confused, "Do I have some food in my hair?" She reached up to feel the top of her head.

Becker chuckled, an amused look on his face as well as another look that Jess couldn't quite place. "No, no your hair's fine, lovely actually, despite the obvious lack of ringlets."

Jess blushed, "Thank-you, same to you, I mean, not the last part, I think you have lovely hair but not with ringlets, I'm not sure they'd suit you so well and oh gosh, now that's an image isn't it, oh please let me curl your hair just to see it!"

Becker's expression quickly changed from amused to horrified, "Are you _insane, _Jessica Tara Parker?"

Jess was giggling too much now though at the image that had entered her mind to even notice that he apparently knew her middle name. Her blush deepened and she knew she was making a fool of herself, but she'd become all giddy and giggly and she couldn't seem to stop. She supposed the excitement of being in Becker's home and seeing his picture of her and him telling her that she had lovely hair was adding to her silliness. "Oh, come on," she managed to gasp out between giggles, "Let me curl your hair while we watch the movie and I'll… well, you choose, I'll do whatever you want."

"Nope, there is no chance in…" suddenly Becker stopped mid-sentence though, another look quickly passing over his face, "Wait, anything?"

Jess' giggles stopped, he wasn't actually seriously considering her offer was he? She'd been kidding. Oh gosh, that look, he was, and if Becker was going to let her curl his hair then whatever he had planned for her to do was big. "Uh, nah, it's okay, I'll just stick with the image in my head, thanks."

Becker grabbed her arm and pulled her close to him, putting his arms around both her waist and her arms, pinning them to her sides so she couldn't escape. Jess gasped at the sudden closeness, "Becker, what are you doing?" Not that she minded.

"Nope, you're not getting off the hook that easy Jessica, you offered and now you have to stick to your word. I'm gonna hold you here until you agree to do whatever I want."

Jess was sorely tempted to _not _agree just so he wouldn't let go of her, but she knew that'd turn out embarrassing somehow, "Fine," she said, "but, I get to curl your hair _and _take a photo of it: a photo to show people. I get to take a photo to show people that are my friends. Did you know that I'm really _really _good friends with Connor Temple?"

Becker chuckled and let go of her, "Deal."

Jess' mouth dropped open as she gaped at him, "Wait, what?"

"I said it's a deal. You can curl my hair and take a picture to show Connor and whoever else you want, because it's going to be totally worth it for me."

Jess' face paled a bit, "Okay, Becker, what exactly are you going to make me do? Now I'm actually scared."

Becker turned and walked out of the kitchen and Jess ran after him. "_Becker_! You have to tell me!"

Becker plopped down on his couch, ignoring her as he switched on the television, "Not now, Jessica. Didn't you tell me to sit here and watch TV? I think I'll do that now, yeah?" He grinned at her innocently.

"Hilary Becker, you cannot do that to me! I'm here to cook you a nice meal and now I'll be worried about it all dinner. Tell me what I have to do!"

"Nope, after."

"After what?"

"After you get your photo so it's too late for you to back out of the deal," Becker grinned at her.

"That's so not fair!" she protested.

Becker grinned and raised his eyebrows, "I know, but Jess?" he stood and leaned close to her, whispering in her ear, "Don't forget, this was _your_ idea!"

Jess shivered a bit at his closeness and her face lit up with a grin, "You know," she said mischievously, "You have thick hair. If I'm lucky it'll hold ringlets longer than mine, perhaps you'll still have curls at work on Monday."

Becker burst out laughing as he pulled away from her, "Nice try Jess, but trust me, I'll get them out before then, whatever it takes. I'd shave my head first."

"You can't do that! I like your hair," but she wasn't overly worried because her statement had been meant to scare him only, she knew there was no way the curls would hold in his short hair longer than a couple hours anyway.

Suddenly they were interrupted by a loud alarm.

Jess jumped, "Oh there _would_ be an anomaly, wouldn't there?"

Becker chuckled, "Jess, this isn't the ARC and I'm not _that _paranoid. I think it's the smoke detector. You might wanna check on that dinner."

He felt a bit badly as he watched the horrified expression on her face as she ran off, but to be honest, he was having trouble caring if the dinner was slightly black. She didn't know, like he did, that his smoke detector went off very easily, every time he made toast in fact, and anyway, he was having much too good a day to be worried about anything at all.


	14. How to Be Happy

Becker stood and hurried after Jess into the kitchen. He noticed immediately that there was no actual fire, so he set about waving a dish towel under the smoke detector to turn off the blasting alarm. If he wasn't so trained in safety procedures, he'd have smashed the horrid sounding thing ages ago.

As soon as the noise had stopped, he turned his full attention back to Jess. She was standing over the lamb with a frown on her face and Becker could see she was really upset, but not devastated.

"Is it ruined?" he asked her.

Jess shook her head, "I don't – I don't think so." She quickly wiped her eyes with the back of her hand to stop herself from letting loose any tears and turned to him guiltily, "but it's not perfect either. I really wanted it to be perfect."

Becker moved closer to take a look. It was a lot darker on one side than the other, but only a couple spots on the edges were actually burnt and it was cooked right through. The burnt bits would be easy enough to cut off.

"It's fine, Jess," he told her. "It looks and smells delicious. I haven't had lamb in forever, so it's still very perfect."

Jess smiled at him gratefully, "Thanks. Well it's definitely cooked enough. I'll check on the potatoes and you can trim off the black bits if you still want to help. Only, don't do it for a few minutes, they have to sit for five minutes before cutting them."

Becker nodded and watched as Jess moved to pull the potatoes out of the oven. She frowned when she went to cut one in half and suddenly burst into tears. Becker frowned too, wondering what could possibly be wrong.

"Jess?" he asked, hesitantly.

"They're not done," she sobbed, "I'm sorry, I'm being silly, but they potatoes aren't ready yet."

"So just put them in for longer," Becker suggested, puzzled as to why this was upsetting her. "It's not a big deal, Jess…"

"You don't get it!" she suddenly yelled at him, and Becker stepped back, stunned and very confused.

"You don't get it," she repeated again, still clearly upset, but her words were slightly softer. "It was supposed to be perfect and I don't know why they aren't done because when Connor taught me they finished at the same time as the lamb and now the lamb is overdone and the potatoes aren't even close to being ready and I don't know why and if I put them in for longer the lamb will be cold and it's not perfect!"

Becker put a hand on her arm and when she didn't pull away he pulled her into a hug. He didn't say anything at first, just rested his chin on her head as she sobbed. When he felt her calm down a bit he stepped back slightly so that he could look at her face, but he kept his hands on her upper arms. "Jess, you know that I'm just happy to spend the evening with you, right? You realize that the way this meal turns out will not and cannot influence how much I like you, yeah? So relax, okay?"

Jess blushed as she realised he was pretty much reading her mind. She shifted uncomfortably a bit, not knowing how to answer. His gaze on her face was so intense she wasn't sure she could answer. Finally she managed a slight nod. Becker loosened his grip on her arms and moved so he was beside her instead, draping one arm around her shoulders and smiling at her, "Now, what's this about Connor teaching to cook?"

Jess winced. "You weren't supposed to know that; it slipped out. Connor gave me some lessons is all because I haven't actually done this on my own before," she admitted softly.

Becker looked at her incredulously, "Never? Then why…?"

Jess giggled a bit at the memory, "You were giving a pounding to a piece of pizza, Becker. What else was I supposed to do but offer you a home cooked meal?"

Becker laughed, "Yeah, but I could've gone out and taken lessons too if that's what you did. I figured you knew what you were doing when you offered."

"I'm getting it, it's not really that hard, but I'm definitely a beginner. And I still don't know why…" she stopped and suddenly her eyes lit up, "I do know! I just remembered! Connor microwaved the potatoes first so they wouldn't take so long in the oven!"

Becker couldn't help it when he saw the happy grin spread across her face; she was so cute when she smiled. He leaned over to kiss her cheek. "Gosh you make me happy, Jess," he told her.

It was Jess' turn to be surprised and she felt suddenly quite flustered, "I, what? I don't know what I did. It makes you happy that I told you that Connor microwaves his potatoes? Not that I don't want you to be happy, because I do, it just wasn't the intention of that statement, but I am happy that you're happy so I guess you make me happy too. But if I'm happy because you're happy and I make you happy then really I made myself happy, right? So now I know that telling you about Connor's potatoes is a weird but effective way of cheering myself up if I'm ever unhappy."

Becker's eyebrow was raised, but she had kept rambling, unable to stop until he finally caved and outright laughed at her. "Oh Jess," he said between howls of laughter, "It wasn't the potatoes; it was the fact that you were so happy about solving the problem on your own that made me say that and if I were you I wouldn't even try to fit that into your theory, yeah? But you know what else makes me happy? Hearing you ramble. Did you know you're adorable when you ramble?"

Jess giggled at Becker's infectious laughter, "Yes, but now you're rambling. You're right, it does make one happy. And now, if you'll excuse me, I need to call Connor because I'm not too sure if I need to start the potatoes over again or not at this point since I've taken them out already or how long to cook them for or what."

Becker nodded and resigned himself to half-listening to her side of the phone call while he started cutting the edges of the lamb off. He also cut off a little bit extra and popped it into his mouth to preview it. He grinned, it might not look perfect, but it tasted truly brilliant.

"Okay thanks Con, and one more thing," Becker suddenly heard Jess say into the phone, "Would you do me a huge favour if I promise you a huge reward? Here's the thing, if you'd just come by here and drop off my curling iron and camera, Becker promised me I could put ringlets in his hair and take a picture to show you and every one else."

She hung up the phone and grinned at Becker mischievously, "He'll be here in a couple minutes."

Becker groaned and reminded himself that this would be worth it for himself. "But what'd he say about the potatoes?"

"He said they'd be fine if we put them in the oven for another half hour or so."

"Okay, you do that, I'll start with the clean up," Becker told Jess, "And don't even think about offering to help. I want you sitting down and relaxing while I scrub dishes. As for the lamb, I snuck a piece and you're brilliant as am I because I just remembered I have a warming rack under the oven to keep it hot."

Jess grinned and did as she'd been ordered, being sure to set a timer for the potatoes this time, and then sitting down in one of the kitchen chairs at his table, angling it a bit so she could watch him clean. They were both contentedly silent for awhile until Jess suddenly asked, "What movie are we watching?"

"Timeline."

Jess gasped, "Really? I've wanted to see that for ages! How did you know?"

"Connor told me to get either Timeline or A Walk to Remember. I read the backs of both and decided there was no way I was going to sit through A Walk to Remember, but Timeline sounded pretty good."

Jess giggled, "But you won the bet. Aren't you supposed to watch your choice, not mine?"

"It was my choice. I chose to pick a movie you'd want to see."

"Why?" Jess laughed, thrilled, "I thought you'd try to make me sit through something horrid."

"We just had this conversation, Jess. Remember, I'm happy when your happy et cetera, et cetera, et cetera? Besides, this way I figure, if I'm lucky, you'll want to come visit me more often."

"I'd come anyway," Jess offered hopefully and probably too eagerly, "Especially now that…"

"Now that what?"

Jess sighed, "I'm happy for them, I really am, but I don't know what I'm gonna do with myself when Connor and Abby move out. Is it wrong that I'm dreading my friends' happy occasion?"

Becker put the dish towel down and came over to her. He crouched down in front of her chair, balancing himself with his hands on her knees. "Jess, I think that's perfectly understandable. In fact, I'd bet they'd be a bit hurt if they thought you _weren't _going to miss them, yeah? But you don't have to be lonely, I'll spend every day with you if that's what you want."

Jess looked at him in surprise, "_Every _day?" she asked doubtfully.

Becker nodded, "Sure, Jess, I don't think I could ever tire of your company. Remember what I told you? You're my favourite person."

Jess grinned, "You know how you could make me _really _happy and hence make yourself _really _happy?"

"How?"

"Tell me what you're going to make me do after I get my picture."

Becker burst out laughing as he stood up, "Nice try, Jessica, but at the moment, I'm already as happy as can be."


	15. Dinner is Served

**The final chapter: Thanks for reading and reviewing everyone!**

Jess was just pulling the potatoes out of the oven for a second time when the doorbell rang and she knew it'd be Connor by the way it kept ringing over and over and over again. She ran towards it, calling to Becker, "I'll get it!"

"Sure, just take over my flat why don't you?" Becker retorted as he let her answer the door. Then he smiled to himself, thinking that he wouldn't really mind so much if she did.

"How's it going?" Connor asked with a grin as she opened the door.

Jess smiled back at him, "Really well. There was a few if-y moments, but overall it's great." She lowered her voice even though she knew that Becker was still busy with the dishes and whispered to Connor, "He said I make him happy!"

Connor chuckled a bit, "Of course you do Jess, you make everyone happy for that matter; you're always cheerful. Still, the fact that you got Becker to say that really says something in itself."

Jess nodded, "So did you bring the stuff?"

Connor nodded and handed her a plastic bag, "I had to ask Abby what the curling iron looked like. She doesn't believe me that Becker's gonna let you curl his hair. I'm a little doubtful myself for that matter, even if he does have a thing for ringlets. Are you _sure _he agreed to this Jess?"

Jess nodded, "Yes, but…"

"But what?"

"I have to do something for him too."

"What?"

"I don't know, he won't tell me."

Connor's eyes widened a bit and a grin spread over his face. He burst out laughing, "Oh gosh, Jess, you have gotten yourself into a mess, haven't you?"

"Yep, but I can't back out now so at least I can enjoy my part of the deal. Now, You, skedaddle. I've got a dinner to get back to." Jess laughed as she gave him a shove out the door, but she quickly kissed his cheek before he left to show that she was grateful he brought the items for her.

Connor waved at her as he walked away, and Jess could see he was still laughing.

She turned and headed back into the house where she found Becker waiting for her, the kitchen all cleaned, "Did he bring it?"

"Yep," Jess replied as she quickly stuffed the potatoes and put them back in the oven.

"I can't believe I'm going to let you do this," Becker told her.

"Me neither and I do wish you'd tell me _why _you're letting me," Jess said with a laugh.

Becker looked at her in mock confusion, "Don't you remember, Jessica? You said you'd do anything."

Jess grabbed the dish towel that Becker had just been using a moment before and swatted at him with it playfully. Becker just grinned at her without saying a word.

When Jess had finished the potatoes and dished the meal out, Becker took the plates from her and nodded towards the hallway, "C'mon, I don't wanna eat in the kitchen."

Jess frowned, unsure where he was going, as she hadn't noticed anything else down the hall but the front door. To her surprise, he stopped in front of a closet door and motioned for her to open it. Jess did so, puzzled, and found a staircase.

"Wow," she said, looking at Becker with a laugh, "Paranoid much? You have a secret staircase?"

Becker chuckled, "Well I didn't build the place, but I rather liked the feature. I think it used to be a normal door, but the previous owners replaced it with a closet door. I'm not sure why. Anyway, go ahead."

Jess moved ahead of him and up the stairs and found herself in a large room, that she couldn't quite tell what it was. He seemed to be using it as part games room, part dining room, part living room, part storage closet and part armoury and yet there was no real divider anywhere. Becker noticed her expression and chuckled, "I couldn't make up my mind what to do with the place."

"So I see, what do you call this room?"

"The Extra Room," Becker laughed.

Jess smiled, "Fits."

Becker put the plates of food down on the table, "I like this room, it seems cozy and private for some reason. Maybe it's the low ceiling and large window. I sit here often when I want to think." He gestured to a comfy looking chair that Jess hadn't noticed before because of the amount of other items in the room.

"It's like a pirate's cove or something," Jess laughed, "Or a grandmother's attic."

Becker frowned, "The Pirate thing… It's definitely the pirate thing."

Jess giggled as they sat down to eat.

"This is really good, Jess," Becker commented as he dug into the meal.

Her face lit up, "Oh, I'm so glad you liked it, I've been worrying I'd mess it up ever since I offered to cook for you."

He smiled at her, "So, did you want to curl my hair before or after the movie?"

She looked at him in surprise, "I thought I was going to do it while we watched it, you know, that efficiency thing. I like to be efficient."

Becker chuckled, "You're too efficient, Jess. If we do one thing at a time, it means I get to keep you here longer."

Jess blushed a bit, "Yeah, good point. Let's do it first. The sooner I get your hair curled, the sooner you'll tell me what I have to do, right?"

"Right," Becker agreed.

Then he turned the conversation to work while they finished eating.

* * *

><p>Half an hour later, Jess was ready to curl Becker's hair. She'd plugged in the curling iron and was just about to reach for it when Becker grabbed it to give her. He dropped it as quickly as he had picked it up.<p>

_"Ow!_ Jess! That thing is burning!"

Jess giggled as she picked it up, "Of course it is."

She reached for a strand of his hair and Becker jerked away from him, "Jessica Parker, are you crazy? You want to put that thing by my head? It's _hot!"_

Jess froze, "Well, what did you expect?"

Becker shrugged, "I don't know, but how about something not hot. Can't you do it without the heat?"

Jess shook her head, "Not unless you want to sleep in curlers all night… This is the quickest solution."

Becker sighed, "If you burn me…"

"What?" Jess asked, "What'll you do if I burn you?"

Becker frowned, "I dunno yet. Just, do be careful, Jess."

Jess nodded, "I will, but don't forget that I have something hot in my hand, so _you _stay still."

"Hmmph."

Curling Becker's hair was actually quite a bit tougher than Jess thought. It was barely long enough to wrap around the curling iron, but after what felt like hours to Becker, she managed.

"Ta-da!" She announced with a grin, coming around his chair to view the finished product. Then she burst into giggles.

"B-B-Becker," she gasped out, "You look…" she couldn't finish her sentence both for lack of words and because she was giggling too much.

Becker frowned sternly at her, but the expression combined with the curls made Jess laugh even harder. Finally she managed to gasp out, "Gotta get that photo now."

She managed to snap a picture and then turned the camera screen to Becker so he could see it but he quickly turned away, "Nope, I don't _want _to see it Jess. I am _not _going to look."

Jess frowned, "Oh, you have too."

"That wasn't part of the deal."

Jess hesitated but then frowned, "I think it was. You said I could show it to whoever I wanted, and I want to show it to you."

"You can put it in front of my face," Becker said, "But you can't force me to open my eyes." He shut them tightly.

Jess frowned as she wondered how she could get him to look, but then she decided it was fine. She'd just email him the picture later or something without telling him what the file before he opened it.

"Fine," she said, putting the camera away, "You win, for now. And it's your turn to tell me what I have to do."

Becker opened one eye half way, and then opened them both fully when he saw that she was telling the truth about the picture not being in front of his face. He had a feeling this was going to come back to haunt him at some point very soon.

He didn't say anything for a moment, as Jess looked at him expectantly, "Well," she asked.

"Come here," He said, motioning her a bit closer to his chair. Jess stepped forward and then gasped as Becker caught her hand and pulled her down so that she was sitting sideways in his lap, his arms wrapping around her waist.

He watched her blush as he stared at her and smiled. "Why are you so cute?" he asked her, and then grinned when she turned an even deeper shade of red.

"Becker, what is it that I'm gonna do? You have to tell me now."

Becker shook his head, "Help me get rid of the curls first,"

"You're kidding? After all that work? That was not part of the deal, Hilary."

"I know, but I also know that I look ridiculous and I don't want to tell you until I'm normal again. Anyway, you got your photograph now."

Jess frowned, "Okay, I'll help you, but you have to look in a mirror first."

"And then you'll help me get rid of them?"

Jess nodded, sighing, "I s'pose. But I still think they're funny."

"Yeah, I gathered that," Becker chuckled kissing her cheek. Jess shivered with pleasure, and turned red again when she saw that he'd noticed. "Alright," he said, "I'll look in the mirror, but when we're done that, I want you back sitting in my lap again. I like holding you."

He saw Jess' draw drop in surprise and then her eyes lit up, "Yeah, okay it's a deal. I don't mind that, actually I like it when you hold me too, you're really strong and I feel safe, not that I'm_ not_ safe right now anyways, because I am, so I don't need a guard or anything and please don't try to shoot anything, but I'm more aware that I feel safe when you hold me." She stopped rambling when she felt Becker tighten his grip on her and saw him smile.

"Good," he told her, "I don't really want to let go of you, but the curls come first."

"I still think you should have to keep them in longer."

Becker screwed up his face, "If you like curls so much we can curl your hair again." His face lit up hopefully at the thought, but Jess just laughed and pushed her way up from his arms.

"Come on," she said. "To the mirror."

In spite of himself, even Becker had to laugh when she finally convinced him to look at this reflection. He did look rather ridiculous. Jess helped him comb them out, but his hair remained slightly wavier than normal. Jess smiled, "I like it like that, it's lovely."

Becker didn't respond, he was thinking more along the lines of how much better he looked in the mirror with Jess at his side. He noticed that his face was reflecting how he felt; he definitely looked happier when Jess was around. He took her hand in his and led her back downstairs and to his living room where he planned on watching the movie with her. He sat down on the sofa, but pulled her back into his arms and on his lap.

"Okay," he said finally as he watched her, "You wanna know what I want from you?"

Jess nodded, but bit her lip nervously. Becker let go of her waist with one hand, and brought it up to stroke a stray piece of her hair behind her ear.

"Well," Becker said, "you don't _really _have to do this of course, I'll think of something else if you can't, but what I really, really, _really_ want for you to do is worth anything to me, it's much bigger than a little silly picture. I'm hoping you'd agree…" he hesitated and then continued quickly, "I want you to be my girlfriend."

He felt Jess suddenly throw her arms around his neck and bury her face into his shoulder. He felt her nod, "I'd love that!" Then suddenly he felt her giggle.

"What?" he demanded. "What's so funny?"

Jess shook her head, "I… You know I would've agreed to that ages ago, right? You didn't have to curl your hair to get that out of me. You could've just asked!"

Becker chuckled, "Yeah, I knew that, but this way was better, I got drive you crazy guessing and I got to watch you giggle at my hair. Totally worth it."

Jess blushed and Becker leaned forward suddenly to kiss her, slowly at first, but then more passionately. Jess suddenly broke it off, "Oh drat!"

Becker stared at her, "What could possibly be wrong?"

Jess grinned, "Sorry I just remembered something, I think I just lost a bet to Connor. I think I'm going to be cooking for him a lot this month."

Becker laughed, "Then I expect a lot of dinner invitations to your flat."

Jess smiled, leaning into him again and letting her lips brush against his as she answered. "Good," she whispered against him, "He said he'd help me, so I guess we can both learn to cook together."

Becker groaned, thinking that getting cooking lessons from Connor, along with the picture, would give Connor rights to tease Becker for the rest of the century, but then Jess' lips were pressing down into his again and he decided that it really didn't matter at all.


End file.
